WOMEN AND EQUALITY

Children

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what discussions on age discrimination against children and young people in the provision of goods, facilities and services Ministers and officials in the Government Equalities Office have held with  (a) non-governmental organisations and  (b) UK children's commissioners since 2005.

Barbara Follett: The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. Prior to this date the Discrimination Law Review Project was the responsibility of the women and equality unit in the Department of Communities and Local Government. Since 2005, Ministers for women and equality have met the Children's Rights Alliance for England on two occasions; one of those meetings was attended by a group of young people. In late 2006, the women and equality unit hosted a roundtable discussion on children and young people, which was attended by non-governmental organisations and the children's commissioners for England and Scotland. During the consultation period for the Equality Bill, the Children's Rights Alliance for England organised a consultation event on behalf of the women and equality unit. Officials also met the Children's Rights Alliance for England in August 2007 and the children's commissioners for England and Scotland in March 2008.

Children

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what written representations concerning age discrimination against children and young people in the provision of goods, facilities and services Ministers and officials in the Government Equalities Office have received from  (a) non-governmental organisations,  (b) UK Children's Commissioners and  (c) members of the public since 2005.

Barbara Follett: The consultation paper on proposals for the Equality Bill, "A Framework for Fairness", signalled that the Government was considering the case for prohibiting age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services and for a single public sector duty extended to cover age. Over 4,000 organisations and individuals responded to the consultation, of which over 700 addressed the issue of prohibiting age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services and over 50 of these responded specifically on the issue of children. The list of organisations that responded to the consultation is available on the Government Equalities Office website.

Children

Julie Morgan: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many refuges for women and children have a dedicated indoor play area for children.

Barbara Follett: The Government do not hold information centrally on the number of refuges for women and children which have a dedicated indoor play area for children.
	Decisions about the provision of refuge spaces and what these should contain are a matter for local authorities, but we would expect them to build services based on the needs of their communities.

Commission for Racial Equality: Leave

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many days leave the chair of the Commission for Racial Equality took in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006 and  (c) 2007.

Barbara Follett: The chair of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was Trevor Phillips from February 2003 until November 2006 and Kay Hampton from November 2006 until the CRE became part of the Equality and Human Rights Commission on 1 October 2007. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has not inherited records from the CRE about leave taken but it is clear that the chair was entitled to 24 days annual leave, in addition to public holidays and two and half privilege days per annum.

Departmental Alcoholic Drinks

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what measures are in place in the Government Equalities Office to monitor expenditure on alcohol for hospitality purposes.

Barbara Follett: Expenditure from the Government Equalities Office's official hospitality account is monitored internally by its finance team and externally by the National Audit Office. It is also subject to internal audit. The GEO's directors and deputy directors (six in total) can claim for alcohol purchased for official events and functions.

Departmental Alcoholic Drinks

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what purchasing process is used by the Government Equalities Office for the procurement of alcohol for hospitality purposes.

Barbara Follett: The directors and deputy directors (six in number) of the Government Equalities Office can claim expenses for alcohol purchased for hospitality at official working lunches and business gatherings. The reimbursement of these is dependent upon the provision and scrutiny of detailed receipts. Such reimbursement is subject to official departmental limits. Since the GEO was established on 12 October 2007 one such claim has been made.

Departmental Aviation

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many individual domestic air flights were undertaken within Great Britain by representatives of the Government Equalities Office since its creation; and at what cost.

Barbara Follett: Since its creation on 12 October 2007 the Government Equalities Office has paid for one domestic flight for a member of its staff. This was a return flight to Glasgow and cost £246.40.

Departmental Consultants

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many contracts the offices now comprising the Government's Equalities Office awarded to consultants in 2006-07; how many contracts went out to tender in 2006-07; what the value of each was; and which contracts were not put out to tender.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 17 July 2008
	The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. It has taken over responsibility for equality issues from a number of different teams and Departments, including: the Disability Rights Commission Sponsorship team, based in 2006-07 in the Department for Work and Pensions; the Commission for Racial Equality Sponsorship Team, based in the Home Office in the first part of 2006-07, then transferred to the Department of Communities and Local Government; the Women and Equality Unit, based in the Department for Trade and Industry until May 2006, then in Communities and Local Government; and lawyers from DTI and HO, who transferred to CLG in May 2006. To answer the question accurately would therefore require investigation of records that are widely dispersed in a number of different Departments and locations and this could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Domestic Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality on how many occasions she visited  (a) Scotland,  (b) Wales and  (c) Northern Ireland in an official capacity in the last 12 months.

Barbara Follett: The Minister for Women and Equality visited Scotland once in February 2008 and Wales once in March 2008

Departmental Paper

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what percentage of paper used  (a) for photocopying and  (b) in printed publications by the Government Equalities Office has been from recycled sources.

Barbara Follett: In the Government Equalities Office (GEO) all of the paper used for photocopying contains 100 per cent. recycled content. All GEO's publications are printed on paper containing a minimum of 75 per cent. recycled fibre content. This is in line with the mandatory 'Buy Sustainable—Quick Wins' minimum environmental product standards developed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Departmental Pay

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many and what proportion of staff in the Government Equalities Office have received bonus payments since the office was established; what the total amount of bonuses paid has been; what the largest single payment has been; and if she will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: Since the establishment of the Government Equalities Office on 12 October 2007, 26 staff (32 per cent. of work force) have received special bonus payments. The total amount of special bonuses paid was £11,700, with the largest single payment being £1,000.

Departmental Postal Services

Mark Hoban: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what steps the Government Equalities Office has taken to monitor the cost of its mail services since its establishment.

Barbara Follett: The Government Equalities Office (GEO) was established on 12 October 2007. Since then it has been based in Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) buildings and CLG have been providing mail services for GEO as part of wider rental agreements. CLG monitor these mail services and are concerned to minimise costs. For example, all post is sent second class.

Departmental Responsibilities

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many reviews of regulation the Government Equalities Office has conducted or commenced since its establishment, and in which areas.

Barbara Follett: The Government Equalities Office has carried out a far-reaching review of the entire discrimination legislative framework in the Discrimination Law Review. We announced the headline results last month, and published a comprehensive response on 21 July (The Equality Bill: Government Response to the consultation). The Equality Bill to streamline and strengthen discrimination law, decluttering the current complexity of legislation and guidance.

Departmental Retirement

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what the standard retirement age in the Government Equalities Office is; and how many people worked beyond the standard retirement age since the Office's inception.

Barbara Follett: Until the Government Equalities Office agrees its own set of terms and conditions its staff are on loan from other Departments and they, therefore, work under the terms and conditions they agreed with in their parent Departments. However the majority of GEO staff are drawn from the Departments for Communities and Local Government and Work and Pensions both of which have removed the retirement age for all staff below senior civil servant (SCS) grade. At present the latter can continue to work until they reach the age of 65 but this age limit is due to be reviewed in 2011. To date, the GEO has not received any requests from SCS staff who want to work beyond the mandatory retirement age.

Departmental Written Questions

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many and what proportion of Parliamentary questions for answer on a named day to the Government Equalities Office received a  (a) holding and  (b) substantive answer on the named day in each year since 2001.

Barbara Follett: The Government Equalities Office (GEO) was established in October 2007. However, it has been answering parliamentary written questions on issues relating to women and equality since July 2007. A total of 30 named day questions have been answered in that time, of which six (20 per cent.) received a substantive reply by the named day and 24 (80 per cent.) received a holding reply on the named day.

Departmental Written Questions

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how long on average the Government Equalities Office took to answer  (a) ordinary written and  (b) named day questions since its creation.

Barbara Follett: The Government Equalities Office (GEO) was officially established in October 2007, but it has been answering parliamentary written questions since July 2007. Since then, it has taken an average of 12.6 working days (days when the House is sitting and when parliamentary questions can be tabled) and 9.5 working days to answer named day questions.

Equal Pay

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what estimate she has made of the pay gap between men and women in each of the last three years.

Barbara Follett: The gender pay gap is calculated annually by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), using information from their Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. The ONS recommends measuring the pay gap using the median value of hourly earnings.
	The full-time gender pay gap is the percentage difference between men and women's median hourly pay (excluding overtime) for full-time jobs. The full-time gender pay gap over the last three years is in the following table:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 2005 13.0 
			 2006 (1)12.8 
			 2007 12.6 
		
	
	The part-time pay gap is the percentage difference between women's median hourly part-time pay (excluding overtime) and men's median hourly full-time pay (excluding overtime. The part-time gender pay gap figures for the last three years is in the following table:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 2005 40.4 
			 2006 (1)39.8 
			 2007 39.1 
			 (1 )The figures given for 2006 are a revision of the original figures for that year. The revised figures reflect a small number of methodological changes to the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, which improve the quality of its results.

Equality

Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2008,  Official Report, column 2831W, on equality, whether individual commissioners are required to give assurances that they support each of the objectives and statutory duties of the Equality and Human Rights Commission as a requirement of  (a) appointment and  (b) re-appointment.

Barbara Follett: Commissioners of the Equality and Human Rights Commission have a collective responsibility clause in their code of conduct and, when speaking as representatives of the Commission, are required to express the views of the Commission as a whole.

Single Equality Bill (Draft)

David Drew: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality whether the draft single Equality Bill will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny in the House.

Barbara Follett: No. The Government are committed to introducing an Equality Bill during this Parliament. The further policy consideration that our comprehensive consultation provoked, and our ongoing engagement with stakeholders, means that we have no plans to publish the Bill in draft.

TREASURY

Banks

Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what meetings he has had with representatives of the banking industry since the onset of the credit crunch; what agreements were reached at such meetings; what steps the  (a) Government and  (b) banking industry undertook to take at those meetings; whether proposals to (i) restructure the remuneration packages of banking industry employees and (ii) amend the accountability regime affecting banking activities were made at such meetings; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: The Chancellor of the Exchequer and other Treasury Ministers regularly meet with representatives of the banking industry. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
	The Government support the April 2008 Financial Stability Forum report recommendation that the financial services industry should take steps, working with regulators and supervisors, to adjust compensation models so as to mitigate the risks arising from inappropriate incentive structures.

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the Valuation Office Agency's local authority liaison meeting of 23 July, what assessment  (a) his Department and  (b) the Valuation Office Agency has made of the effect of council tax backdating on budgeting by billing authorities.

Kitty Ussher: No such assessments have been made.

Gaming Machines

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research  (a) his Department and  (b) the Gambling Commission has (i) commissioned and (ii) published since March 2008 on the effects of the availability of high-stake, high-prize gaming machines on problem gamblers.

Andy Burnham: I have been asked to reply.
	On 14 March 2008 my hon. Friend the Minister for Sport wrote to the chair of the Gambling Commission, asking the Commission to prioritise its planned research into the impact of high-stake, high-prize gaming machines on problem gambling. The Gambling Commission replied on 31 July 2008, setting out the outcomes of some internal research which looked at the evidence surrounding this issue. A summary of the evidence reviewed will be published later in 2008. In the letter the Commission set out a programme of small projects that it would undertake to help establish a better understanding of the evidence. Among other things it will set up an expert panel and work with the gambling industry to explore player data, with a view to understanding how this data can be used in future research. The Commission will report to my Department again in June 2009 on progress with this programme of work.

National Insurance Contributions

Peter Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was raised in national insurance contributions in  (a) the UK,  (b) England,  (c) Wales,  (d) Scotland and  (e ) Northern Ireland in each of the last 11 years.

Kitty Ussher: Information on UK receipts of national insurance contributions is published in National Statistics Table 1.2 on the Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs website.
	Estimates of national insurance contribution receipts for Scotland are prepared by the Scottish Government.
	No other estimates are available of national insurance contribution receipts in the separate countries of the UK.

National Minimum Wage: Agriculture

David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the level of compliance with national minimum wage requirements in the agricultural sector; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: I have been asked to reply.
	The Statistics Digest for 2008 provides data on farm labour and wages. This includes data on workers paid below the statutory agricultural minimum wage rate. The table below shows the proportion of people according to the grades set out in the Agricultural Wages Order being paid below the set minima during the last full AWO year (October 2006-September 2006).
	
		
			  Grade  AWB minimum (£)  Below minimum (percentage) 
			 Grade 1 5.35 6 
			 Grade 2 5.74 18 
			 Grade 3 6.31 19 
			 Grade 4 6.77 8 
			 Grade 5 7.18 10 
			 Grade 6 7.75 13 
		
	
	These data are collected from the Department for Environment' Food and Rural Affairs's Earnings and Hours Survey and are based on a sample of 939 workers and only include people who are 20 years or over.
	DEFRA is responsible for enforcing the Agricultural Wages Order and will investigate complaints about underpayment of the minimum wages rate.

Revenue and Customs: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will arrange for a substantive reply to be sent to the hon. Member for Walsall, North to his letter of 13 August to the tax credit office, Preston, concerning a constituent, ref JA121568A.

Kitty Ussher: I have arranged for the Tax Credit Office to send a substantive reply to my hon. Friend about his constituent by 19 September.

Revenue and Customs: Official Hospitality

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much each HM Revenue and Customs office spent on  (a) alcohol and  (b) entertainment in the last three months, broken down by region.

Kitty Ussher: Expenditure, including that on entertaining, is subject to audit and the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety. £2,192 was spent within HMRC (excluding the Valuation Office Agency) on entertaining during the three months June 2008 to August 2008. Obtaining information on the amount spent on alcohol within this figure is available only at disproportionate cost.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Greg Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the percentage of home purchase transactions that will benefit from the stamp duty exemption for properties between £175,000 and £125,000 in each of the next two years.

Kitty Ussher: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) on 15 September 2008,  Official Report, columns 2155-56W.

Tax Incentives: Energy

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to use tax incentives to encourage energy conservation.

Kitty Ussher: Government use a range of policy instruments to encourage energy efficiency, including spending, regulatory and voluntary approaches.
	The Government keeps all taxes and reliefs under review.

Taxation: Energy

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for the introduction of a tax on energy companies in relation to windfall profits.

Kitty Ussher: The Government keep all taxes under review.

Valuation Office: Geographical Information Systems

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether an invitation to tender document has been published for the Valuation Office Agency's new geographic information system.

Kitty Ussher: No.

Valuation Office: Geographical Information Systems

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the specification for the Valuation Office Agency's new geographic information system, redacting any commercially sensitive information.

Kitty Ussher: The specification for the geographic information system is still being finalised.

Valuation Office: Rightmove

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the Valuation Office Agency's Management Board meeting minutes of 19 June 2008, what conclusion the Board reached in relation to  (a) the renewal of the Rightmove contract and  (b) the use of third party information to support the automated valuation model.

Kitty Ussher: The Valuation Office Agency Management Board approved further work to identify cost-effective approaches to gathering information to support its work.

Valuation Office: Rightmove

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 1106-07W, on the Valuation Office Agency: Rightmove, what the contractual deadline and timetable are for the Agency to make a decision on whether to extend or continue with the contract.

Kitty Ussher: The initial term of the contract between Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and Rightmove.co.uk Ltd. expired on 31 March 2008. On the question of a timetable for a decision on whether to extend or continue with the contract, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 March 2008,  Official Report, column 1225W.

Valuation Office: Travel

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what overseas countries and cities have been visited by representatives of the Valuation Office Agency during the last 12 months at public expense; and what the cost of such visits was.

Kitty Ussher: During the last 12 months Valuation Office Agency staff have visited the following overseas cities and countries at public expense:
	
		
			  Cities  Purpose of visit 
			 Kutching, Malaysia Speaker at international valuation conference 
			 Dublin, Ireland Annual meeting to discuss valuation practice and procedures across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland 
			 Toronto, Canada Valuation Symposium 
			 Warsaw, Poland Attendance at valuation conference 
		
	
	The cost of these visits was £7,006.

VAT: Energy

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the revenue that will be raised from VAT on domestic energy as a result of increases in fuel prices in 2008-09.

Kitty Ussher: No estimate has been made.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Departmental Alcoholic Drinks

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what purchasing process is used by his Department for the procurement of alcohol for hospitality purposes.

Shahid Malik: DFID does not encourage expenditure on or consumption of alcohol in relation to hospitality. Therefore there are no specific processes for the purchase of alcohol. All entertainment and hospitality expenditure is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury Handbook on Regularity, Propriety and Value for Money.

Departmental Buildings

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what account his Department takes of the level of energy efficiency of buildings before entering into agreements to  (a) rent and  (b) purchase those buildings.

Shahid Malik: The Department for International Development (DFID) has only two buildings in the United Kingdom, and has not taken on any properties in the last seven years. We have no plans to rent or purchase further properties.

Departmental ICT

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what IT contracts his Department has entered into in the last two years.

Shahid Malik: Copies of the document entitled "IT Contracts Awarded 2006-07 and 2007-08" which provides details of IT contracts entered into by the Department for International Development (DFID) in the last two years, have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	A limited number of low value IT purchases made by our overseas offices are not recorded centrally and would incur disproportionate cost to collate.

Departmental Postal Services

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department has taken to monitor the cost of its mail services in the last 12 months.

Shahid Malik: All items sent through the UK post are through the Royal Mail, or in the case of items sent directly between our two offices, under a contract with TNT (Express) UK Ltd. Expenditure is monitored against budget in each location, and last year reduced overall by 12 per cent. over the preceding year.

Departmental Sick Leave

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in his Department have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: There have been 90 home civil service staff in the Department for International Development (DFID) who have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more years since 2003.

Departmental Visits Abroad

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the cost of overseas visits by each Minister in his Department has been since 1997.

Shahid Malik: Since 1999, the Government have published the total cost of all overseas travel by Ministers and a list of all overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500. Information for the last financial year was published on 25 July 2007,  Official Report, column 1112W. Details for the financial year 2007-08 will be published before the summer recess and will include details of overseas visits undertaken by all Ministers. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the "Ministerial Code".
	Information in respect of overseas visits by all Ministers for the period 1997-99 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department has taken to work in partnership on AIDS prevention with government bodies in those countries to which his Department provides aid to reduce the incidence of AIDS.

Gillian Merron: National Governments have responsibility for resourcing, coordinating and delivering effective AIDS responses, but they need support from a wide range of other stakeholders. The Department for International Development (DFID) supports countries to develop and implement evidence-informed HIV prevention strategies that promote and protect human rights; that are relevant to the local epidemic context; and that promote comprehensive approaches to HIV prevention based on the realities of people's lives.
	There is strong evidence for the effectiveness of many approaches to HIV prevention, including condom use, family planning, methods to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), and for people who inject drugs, comprehensive harm reduction services, particularly needle and syringe exchange and drug treatment programmes, including non-injectable substitutes.
	In countries with strong commitments to development, we focus on supporting the implementation of comprehensive country-led HIV and AIDS strategies, directly funding governments and working with civil society partners and donor agencies. In more fragile states, where governments are less effective, we provide technical support to strengthen government capacity as well as direct support for service delivery by civil society organisations.
	A copy of the updated strategy "Achieving Universal Access—the UK's strategy for halting and reversing the spread of HIV in developing world" and supporting evidence paper have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. These are also available on the DFID website:
	www.dfid.gov.uk

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects and programmes his Department funds  (a) to address critical health worker shortages and  (b) to secure long-term sustainable financing to strengthen health systems in countries where HIV positive and AIDS are endemic.

Gillian Merron: The Department for International Development (DFID) provides flexible funding to back national plans and priorities and to help strengthen health systems as a whole. UK Government health spend in developing countries was £750 million in 2006-07. Addressing the shortage of health workers in these countries is a high priority for DFID. For example, in Ethiopia DFID is contributing to the massive scale-up of community health workers—from fewer that 3,000 in 2004 to 24,000 now and 30,000 by 2009. In Malawi, DFID is contributing to the Emergency Human Resources Programme, which aims to double the number of nurses and triple the number of doctors. DFID has also provided £1 million to the Global Health Workforce Alliance from 2007-09.
	In "Achieving Universal Access—the UK's Strategy for Halting and Reversing the Spread of HIV in the Developing World" the Government have committed £6 billion to strengthen health systems and services over seven years to 2015 in poor countries where HIV and AIDS are a major problem. We have also committed £1 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria by 2015. A copy of the updated strategy 'Achieving Universal Access—the UK's strategy for Halting and Reversing the Spread of HIV in the Developing World' and supporting evidence paper have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. These are also available on the Department for International Development (DFID) website:
	www.dfid.gov.uk

Food

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent by his Department on  (a) food and  (b) food of British origin in each of the last five years.

Shahid Malik: The Department for International Development (DFID) has budgeted to spend £279,000 on food through our catering contracts for our two UK offices in the current year. Information on the breakdown of food based on country of origin is not collated, and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost. Information for previous years is not available as DFID changed its catering contractors at the beginning of 2008.

Food

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development from which five countries of origin the greatest amount of food was procured by his Department in the last year for which figures are available; and what the  (a) cost and  (b) quantity procured was in each case.

Shahid Malik: The Department for International Development is unable to answer this question as we do not require our catering contractors to maintain records of the country of origin of food procured, and to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Kenya: Asylum

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department has provided to enable Kenyan families displaced by post-election violence to return to their homes.

Gillian Merron: The UK Government's Department for International Development has committed £2.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Kenya for those displaced by the crisis.
	In May, the Government of Kenya launched an operation to assist those who voluntarily wished to return home, providing transport, food, shelter and household items.
	Although DFID has currently not committed funds to the resettlement of internally displaced people, we are working with the international community and the Government of Kenya to ensure resources are allocated to meeting the needs of those displaced and in finding ways of successful resettlement.

Overseas Aid

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to paragraph 7.53 of his Department's 2008 Annual Report, which Millennium Development Goals his Department is not on track to meet by 2015.

Shahid Malik: The official assessment of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is made by the United Nations (UN) each year. The last assessment was published last autumn in the UN's annual report "The Millennium Development Goal Report 2007", which is available at:
	http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2007/UNSD_MDG_Report_2007e.pdf.
	This assessment of progress was also reproduced in Annex 3 of the Department's 2008 annual report. The next update of global progress towards the MDGs is expected to be published later in September by the United Nations.

Overseas Aid

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what scenario and contingency planning his Department has employed in its country programmes relating to fragile states; what the cost of such planning was; and what dialogue it has promoted with other Government departments, with reference to paragraph 8.10 of his Department's Annual Report 2008.

Gillian Merron: Scenario and contingency planning has been carried out by Department for International Development (DFID) country offices in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. DFID has also participated in joint UK Government scenario planning exercises in Kosovo and Iraq. Scenario and contingency planning has helped DFID develop a better, shared understanding of context within country offices and with other Government Departments, particularly the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Ministry of Defence (MOD). It has helped DFID think through the mix of aid instruments and partnerships we should use, improve risk assessment and management, and define and test options for country plans and HMG strategies.
	Six DFID country offices have drawn on some support from external experts as part of the work (Bangladesh, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan) and the estimated cost of this work has been £130,500. The majority of country offices have carried out the work in-house. A cross-Whitehall scenario planning group (comprising DFID, FCO, MOD, Stabilisation Unit and the Horizon Scanning Centre) has also been established centrally, and this group is sharing lessons and experiences of scenario planning work. DFID's new country planning guidance (issued on 14 July 2008) requires all country offices to include scenario and contingency planning as part of the process.

Overseas Aid

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made in meeting the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals Call to Action; what steps have been taken to increase the number of countries supporting the Call to Action; how much his Department has spent on Call to Action; what administrative costs his Department has incurred; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Call to Action.

Gareth Thomas: Progress to date against objectives on the Call to Action has included:
	45 countries and the EC have signed up to the Call to Action, showing their dedication to achieving the MDGs. We expect the number of signatories will continue to grow.
	The G8 and the EU in its Agenda for Action have reaffirmed their commitments on aid and agreed ways of accelerating progress on the MDGs.
	Over 60 private sector leaders have signed up to the Business Call to Action. Some of these set out in the Business Call to Action event organised with UNDP in May how they will contribute through their core business to reaching the MDGs. Others will do the same at the UN meeting on the MDGs in September.
	Civil society and faith groups are engaging in support of the Call to Action.
	We have seen close co-operation by countries and others in co-ordinating partnership events that will help shape a common vision of how to accelerate action on the MDGs.
	In order to help increase the number of signatory countries, UK Government representatives, working closely with our partners, have sought to raise the Call to Action with bilateral partners in a range of meetings over the past year.
	The Department for International Development (DFID) has so far spent approximately £375,000 from its programme budget.
	Based on salary costs, the administrative spend so far on the CtA, has been approximately £300,000 for the core team. In addition to this there are unquantified costs for the time of a range of other staff, who provide support as part of their wider responsibilities, and in-country costs incurred by the UK Mission in New York.
	The CtA has been very effective in engaging a broad set of players to harness their potential to help achieve the MDGs. However there is still much to be done and we will continue to work closely with the UN and others.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs: Finance

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent to support the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 10 September 2008
	The Home Office allocated the following sums of money in each of the last five years to support the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs:
	
		
			   Sum allocated to the ACMD (£) 
			 2003-04 80,000 
			 2004-05 135,000 
			 2005-06 165,000 
			 2006-07 152,000 
			 2007-08 152,800 
		
	
	In addition the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs secretariat staff and other civil servant costs have not been allocated as such costs are subsumed within normal salaried remuneration and within existing budgets.

Airwave Service

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date the Airwave system will be implemented for police forces in the London area.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The Airwave service is already being used operationally throughout both City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police Service. Migration to Airwave from the previous radio systems was completed by September 2007.

Airwave Service

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the guaranteed lifespan of the aerials used in the Airwave project is; and what preventative maintenance programme for these aerials has been put in place.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The Airwave service is provided by Airwave Solutions Ltd. (ASL) and is paid for by the National Policing Improvement Agency and police authorities by means of a service charge. The responsibility for aerials and any associated preventative maintenance rests with ASL. The Airwave contract does not make specific reference to either aerial life or aerial maintenance but ASL are obliged to maintain service levels as specified in the Airwave contract.

Airwave Service

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what options her Department has considered for integrating talk groups within the Airwave system; and what estimate it has made of the cost of implementing the preferred option.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	Talk groups are a basic component of the Airwave service and as such are included in the core charge for the service. They exist within every police force and have been implemented progressively ever since Lancashire Constabulary first started using Airwave in September 2001.

Airwave Service

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions her Department has had with construction industry representatives on the inclusion of Airwave technology in large construction projects.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	There is no legal requirement for Airwave to be installed within large construction projects and the service is usually provided on a bespoke basis at the behest of the local force under a provision in the Airwave contract for Special Coverage Solutions. In such situations, the cost is borne by the appropriate police authority. We are not aware of any discussions that have been held on this issue with the construction industry.

Animal Experiments: Scotland

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) supplying,  (b) breeding and  (c) scientific procedure establishments designated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 there were in Scotland on 31 December 2007.

Meg Hillier: holding answer 10 September 2008
	 As at the 31 December 2007 in Scotland there were 11 supplying, 18 breeding and 32 user establishments designated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Animal Experiments: Scotland

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many regulated procedures under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were carried out in Scotland in 2007.

Meg Hillier: holding answer 10 September 2008
	During 2007, in Scotland there were 392,671 regulated procedures carried out under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Animal Experiments: Scotland

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many project licences were  (a) granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in 2007 and  (b) in force at the end of 2007 in respect of work to be carried out in Scotland.

Meg Hillier: holding answer 10 September 2008
	During 2007 102 project licences were granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in Scotland. On 31 December 2007 there were 482 project licences in force in Scotland.

Animal Experiments: Scotland

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the regulated procedures conducted in Scotland in 2007 under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were performed in  (a) public health laboratories,  (b) universities and medical schools,  (c) national health service hospitals,  (d) Government Departments,  (e) other public bodies,  (f) non-profit making organisations and  (g) commercial organisations.

Meg Hillier: holding answer 10 September 2008
	During 2007, in Scotland, based on the numbers of procedures, universities and medical schools carried out 68 per cent. of the regulated procedures under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, Government Departments 1 per cent., other public bodies 13 per cent. and commercial organisations 18 per cent.
	Non-profit making organisations accounted for less than ½ per cent of procedures whilst public health laboratories and NHS hospitals did not carry out any regulated procedures.

Animal Experiments: Scotland

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the regulated procedures conducted in Scotland in 2007 under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were carried out for  (a) fundamental and applied studies other than toxicology and  (b) toxicity tests or other safety and efficacy evaluation.

Meg Hillier: holding answer 10 September 2008
	During 2007, in Scotland, 84 per cent. of the regulated procedures conducted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were carried out for fundamental and applied studies other than toxicology and 16 per cent. for toxicity tests or other safety or efficacy evaluation.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many individual support orders were issued in  (a) 2006 and  (b) 2007; and what proportion of all antisocial behaviour orders issued to 10 to 17 year olds individual support orders represented in each year;
	(2)  how many intervention orders have been made since 1 October 2006; and what proportion this represents of all antisocial behaviour orders issued in this period.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 10 September 2008
	The available information on the number of Individual Support Orders (ISOs) issued is shown in the following table. ISO Data for 2007 will be available in 2009.
	Intervention Orders became available in October 2006. The Office for Criminal Justice Reform started collecting data on the number of Intervention Orders from 1 October 2007. Data for 2007 are due to be published in early 2009.
	
		
			  Number of Individual Support Orders( 1)  given at the magistrates court, in addition to an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO), as reported to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform by the Court Service, from 1 January to 31 December 2006, England and Wales 
			   All persons aged 10-17 
			  Period  Individual Support Orders  ASBOs issued on application  ASBOs issued on conviction  Percentage of ASBOs issued on application with an ISO attached 
			 Total 2006 75 423 631 18 
			 (1) Available at magistrates courts only for juveniles (aged 10-17) with ASBOs issued on application. Commencement date 1 May 2004.  Notes: 1. Previously issued data have been revised. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Prepared by OCJR-Evidence & Analysis Unit.

Antisocial Behaviour: Blackpool

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to reduce antisocial behaviour in Blackpool since 2005.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 10 September 2008
	 We are strongly committed to tackling, not tolerating, antisocial behaviour. That is why local crime and disorder reduction partnerships were introduced under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. These enable the police, local authorities and other agencies representing the local community to work together to identify the crime and disorder problems in their area and take action to tackle them.
	Blackpool was confirmed as one of 40 areas in January 2007 to lead the Respect Area programme by the strong track record in tackling antisocial behaviour and a willingness and capacity to do more.
	As a Respect Area, Blackpool signed up to:
	Family Intervention Projects
	More Parenting Classes for parents struggling with troublesome children.
	Face the People sessions where the police, local authorities and others can be accountable to their local public.
	Keep up the relentless action to tackle anti-social behaviour by using the full range of tools and powers available.
	Using the Respect Housing Standard to prevent and deal with any problems in social housing.
	The work of the Respect Task Force is now being undertaken by the Youth Taskforce—established at the Department for Children, Schools and Families to focus on delivering positive outcomes for young.
	Blackpool utilises the full range of the tools and powers available to tackle antisocial behaviour as set out in their ASB strategy.

Asylum

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many appeals against decisions made in legacy asylum claims had been heard by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal as of 31st July 2008.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The reference to "legacy asylum claims" is taken to mean those which have not been processed through the new asylum model since the former Home Secretary John Reid's legacy announcement on 19 July 2006. Our records show that there have been 5,545 such appeals heard by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.
	 Note:
	The information provided in this response is taken from local management data and is not a national statistic. It should therefore be treated as provisional and is subject to change.

Asylum: Finance

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate her Department has made of the number of asylum seekers who had been waiting more than two months to be paid section 4 support at 31 July 2008.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 10 September 2008
	Provision for failed asylum seekers eligible for support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 is in the form of accommodation and vouchers. Cash payments are not made.
	No decision was recorded on or before 31 July in respect of 101 applications made before 1 June 2008 for support under section 4.
	This is based on management information which is subject to change.

Asylum: Zimbabwe

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) Zimbabwean and  (b) Darfuri asylum seekers of each (i) age group and (ii) sex are in each UK immigration removal centre; and how long each has been there.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 21 July 2008
	The following table shows the number of Zimbabwean and Sudanese asylum seekers (including dependants) detained solely under Immigration Act powers as at 29 March 2008, broken down by centre and sex; all detainees were adults.
	Following a change in the system in which information is collected, published statistics on all persons detained under sole Immigration Act powers by length of detention are not available.
	The UK Border Agency does not electronically record the region from which asylum applicants originate; this information would only be available by examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost.
	It is therefore not possible to say how many Darfuri asylum seekers are in immigration detention centres.
	Further national statistics on persons detained solely under Immigration Act powers are available from the Library of the House and the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	The decision to detain is made on a case by case basis and may be appropriate in one or more of the following circumstances: to effect removal; to establish a person's identity and claim; where a person presents a risk of abscond or where the application is capable of being considered quickly.
	
		
			  Zimbabwean and Sudanese adult( 1)  asylum seekers( 2)  recorded as being detained in Immigration Service Removal Centres in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act powers as at 29 March 2008, by place of detention and sex( 3) 
			  Number of individuals 
			   Zimbabwean nationals detained  Sudanese nationals detained 
			  Place of detention  Female  Male  Total  Female  Male  Total 
			  Immigration Service Removal Centres   
			 Campsfield House — * * — * * 
			 Colnbrook Long Term — 5 5 — 5 5 
			 Dover Immigration Removal Centre — 5 5 — * * 
			 Dungavel * * 5 — 5 5 
			 Harmondsworth — * * — * * 
			 Haslar — 5 5 — * * 
			 Lindholme — * * — — — 
			 Oakington Reception Centre — * * — * * 
			 Tinsley House — * * — * * 
			 Yarl's Wood * — * — — — 
			 Total 5 25 30 — 20 20 
			 (1) Persons recorded as being aged 18 or over as at 29 March 2008.  (2) Persons detained under Immigration Act powers who are recorded as having sought asylum at some stage, including dependants.  (3) Figures rounded to the nearest five, (— = 0, * = 1 or 2), may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding and exclude persons detained under both criminal and immigration powers.

Biometrics: Airports

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what use the UK Border Agency will make of data collected during biometric fingerprint checks at airports.

Liam Byrne: A broad range of biometrically enabled measures have already been introduced or are planned for deployment by the UK Border Agency. These include:
	The processing of 1(st) and 2(nd) generation e-travel documents (passports and ID cards) at the Border;
	The recording of the biometrics of all individuals applying for a visa or entry clearance to travel to the UK;
	The enrolment of biometrics of foreign nationals in the UK and issuance of biometric residence permits;
	The verification of visa holders' identity by the scanning and checking of their fingerprints; and
	The issuing of biometric identity documents to individuals recognised as refugees, granted humanitarian protection etc.
	The enhanced use of biometrics will enable individuals to be locked down to a single identity, preventing the opportunity for multiple identities to be created and used, and helping to ensure that UKBA's strategic objectives to secure our border and tackle immigration crime are met.
	Legal powers have extended our capability to capture fingerprints from other categories of passengers. This includes, among others, those who have been detained; those for whom removal directions have been set and those who have been granted temporary admission, and where there have been doubts about their compliance with such a grant.
	The use of biometrics in border control processes supports UKBA's strategic objectives to strengthen our borders. Increasingly, biometrics are used to confirm a person's identity for law enforcement purposes.

British Nationality

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there are any circumstances in which it makes a material difference to the inheritance of British citizenship by descent whether the citizenship is inherited from the maternal or the paternal side.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The British Nationality Act 1981 makes no distinction between men and women in terms of their ability to pass on the benefits of their status under the Act to their children. Nor does it distinguish, so far as British citizens by descent are concerned, between those whose ancestral connection with the United Kingdom is traced through the male line and those whose connection is traced through the female line.

Community Safety Accreditation Schemes

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers  (a) private companies and  (b) other organisations participating in community safety accreditation schemes have in each police force area.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	It is for the Chief Constable of a police force to decide which of the powers available under the community safety accreditation scheme are given to individuals working for private companies and other organisations. The Home Office has carried out an audit of the powers accredited under CSAS in each police force which can be found on the Home Office website at:
	http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/communitypolicing/citizenfocusedpolicing/communitysafety-accredit-scheme/.

Community Safety Accreditation Schemes

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which  (a) private companies and  (b) other organisations are in the community safety accreditation scheme in each police force area; and how many people have been accredited by each such scheme to date.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The Home Office does not collect data on which private companies and other organisations are in the community safety accreditation scheme (CSAS). However, a Home Office audit on the CSAS found there to be 1,406 people accredited under the scheme across England and Wales.
	The audit shows, among other things, the number of accredited people per force and can be found on the Home Office website at:
	http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/communitypolicing/citizenfocusedpolicing/communitysafetyaccredit-scheme/.

Community Safety Accreditation Schemes

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-UK citizens have been accredited under community safety accreditation schemes since the inception of such schemes, broken down by nationality.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	 The Home Office does not collect information on the number of non-UK citizens accredited under community safety accreditation schemes.

Community Support Officers: Greater London

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers there were in the London boroughs of  (a) Newham,  (b) Hackney and  (c) Tower Hamlets in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September  2008
	Information on the number of Police Community Support Officers has been collected since 2005 and the figures for Newham, Hackney and Tower Hamlets are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Police community support officers( 1) 
			   31 March 
			  London Borough Operational Command Unit  2005  2006  2007  2008( 2) 
			 Hackney 51 51 66 86 
			 Newham 76 82 105 122 
			 Tower Hamlets 59 79 86 94 
			 (1) Full-time equivalent numbers. (2) Provisional data provided by Metropolitan Police.

Crime

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the annual cost to the British economy of crime.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 15 September 2008
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 9 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1537W.

Crime: Business

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the number of crimes committed against business in each of the last three years.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 10 September 2008
	The term "business crime" is not specifically used within the recorded crime offence series. The offences that may be attributed to business crime are: robbery of business property, theft by an employee, shoplifting, and fraud by a company director. The available statistics are given in the following table.
	Our strategy is to encourage business to work closely in partnership with the police and local authorities through the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) to inform local crime reduction strategies.
	Partnership working is perhaps the single biggest success in tackling crime over the past 10 years. We funded the Action Against Business Crime Group to set up and maintain 200 business crime reduction partnerships in towns and cities across England and Wales. These partnerships have proved remarkably successful.
	The Home Office is committed to working with our retail partners to ensure that we find effective solutions and responses to retail crime.
	Shops and stores are at the heart of most of our communities and crime against those outlets affects us all.
	A key strand of the work to address business crime is to ensure that partnerships and stakeholders have the right "tools" and knowledge to deal with retail crime effectively.
	As an example of this, the Home Office has funded the Perpetuity Group, which is led by Professor Gill, to devise an audit tool which retailers can apply to their stores and significantly lower the opportunities for shop thieves to operate.
	
		
			  Recorded crime statistics: number of offences recorded for offence classifications that may be attributed to "business crime", 2005-06 to 2007-08 
			  Offence  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  Percentage change 2005-06 to 2007-08 
			 Robbery of business property 8,760 9,454 9,141 4 
			 Theft by an employee 17,048 16,323 15,858 -7 
			 Shoplifting 295,999 294,282 290,625 -2 
			 Fraud by company director(1) 626 101 197 -69 
			 (1) The large increase in this offence in 2005-06 was due to one large-scale fraud recorded by Cambridgeshire Constabulary and the large rise in 2007-08 was due to fraud recorded by the North Yorkshire Constabulary.

Crime: Waste Disposal

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many waste disposal offences were recorded in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years, broken down by  (a) type of offence and  (b) police force area.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The information requested is not collected centrally. Offences prohibiting the unlicensed disposal of waste come under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and are summary offences. As such they do not form part of the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office.

Criminal Records: International Cooperation

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals are under discussion at EU level to enable access to the criminal records of one EU member state by the authorities of another.

Jacqui Smith: We welcome EU-wide initiatives to exchange criminal record information for criminal investigation and vetting purposes.
	The European Union is currently discussing a proposal for a Council decision on the establishment of the European Criminal Record Information System (ECRIS). The ECRIS proposal is designed to provide a standardised format for the electronic exchange of information extracted from criminal records, in particular information on the offence for which a person has been convicted and the sentence passed by the court. When adopted the ECRIS proposal will allow swifter exchange of criminal conviction information between member states than is the case now.
	The ECRIS proposal will allow the application of Article 11 of Framework Decision 2008/xx/JHA on the organisation and content of the exchange of information extracted from criminal records between member states. The EU has agreed a general approach on this proposal and we expect it to be adopted by the end of 2008 with an implementation deadline of three years from the date of agreement. When the Framework Decision comes into force it will be mandatory to notify other EU countries of convictions of its nationals and it will also be mandatory to respond to requests for the criminal records of EU national being proceeded against in another member state.
	The United Kingdom already can, in the context of criminal proceedings in the UK, request the criminal record of an EU National using Council Decision 2005/876/JHA of 21 November 2005. While the Council Decision is not mandatory a number of EU member states, including the UK, Germany and Poland are already using the Council Decision to obtain criminal record information from other member states.

Departmental Buildings

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department's policy is on improving the energy efficiency of the buildings which it  (a) rents and  (b) owns; what changes there have been in the energy efficiency of such buildings in the last (i) five and (ii) 10 years; and whether her Department has adopted targets on energy efficiency improvements in the buildings it occupies over the next (A) five and (B) 10 years.

Liam Byrne: The Department is committed to the Sustainable Operations on the Government (SOGE) targets which include a requirement to improve energy efficiency per m(2) by 15 per cent. by 2010, and then 30 per cent. by 2020, based on 1999-2000 levels. Energy efficiency performance in 2006-07, the latest year for which data is available, compared to 1999-2000 is given in the following table. No earlier data is available. This shows a 12.9 per cent. improvement in energy efficiency over the period.
	
		
			   1999-2000( 1)  2006-07( 1) 
			 Energy per m(2) (kWh/m(2)) 458 400 
			 (1) Includes core Home Office, UK Borders Agency, Identity and Passport Service as well as the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), including the prison service, since transferred to the Ministry of Justice. 
		
	
	The reporting period 2007-08 is the first for which we will have performance data on the much reduced departmental estate, following the transfer of the National Offender Management Service, incorporating the probation and prisons estates, to the Ministry of Justice. Once this data is finalised we will use it to assess current performance and to identify what improvement activity may be required to enable us to achieve the SOGE energy efficiency targets by 2010 and then 2020, as well as actions required to reduce emissions from energy use in the same period.

Departmental Buildings

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account her Department takes of the level of energy efficiency of buildings before entering into agreements to  (a) rent and  (b) purchase those buildings.

Liam Byrne: The Department is committed to acquiring accommodation which minimises carbon emissions and provide lowest achievable energy costs. When purchasing or leasing buildings, the Department seeks to choose those that offer the best available certification under the BRE environmental assessment method which also meet operational needs and provide best value for money.

Departmental Data Protection

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether personal data for which her Department is responsible is  (a) stored and  (b) processed overseas; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Some personal data provided by individuals to the Criminal Records Bureau and to UK Visas is temporarily stored for processing purposes overseas.
	The CRB data processed overseas is only stored for the duration of time taken to input it, determine that quality criteria are met and transfer it back to the United Kingdom. Thereafter, the data is destroyed. The overseas site in India is ISO27001 certified and is subject to CRB audit and accreditation reviews.
	The processing of visa applicant data overseas is carried out either by Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff in diplomatic or consular premises or, in certain countries, by commercial partners. In these countries, commercial partners are only responsible for the basic collection of visa application data, under the supervision of UK-visas staff.
	In all circumstances the Home Office seeks to handle personal data in a way that complies with our obligations under UK law.

Departmental Data Protection

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether personal data held by her Department has been transferred to compact discs and sent to external agencies in the last 12 months.

Liam Byrne: In line with current Cabinet Office guidance, the Home Office has used compact discs to transfer personal data to external agencies in the last year. Since 22 November 2007, the Home Office has been undertaking a review of its technical, process and procedural arrangements to ensure the risk of data being compromised is managed and reduced to a minimum.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179:
	"...I have asked the Cabinet Secretary and security experts to ensure that all Departments and all agencies check their procedures for the storage and use of data.."
	An interim progress report on the review was published by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement on 17 December 2007,  Official Report, column 98WS. This included a recommendation to enhance the transparency with Parliament and the public about the action taken to safeguard information, and the results of that action, through publication of results, departmental annual reports and an annual report to Parliament.

Departmental Data Protection

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions are issued to staff in her Department on how to  (a) collect,  (b) use and  (c) delete personal information on members of the public.

Jacqui Smith: The information is as follows:
	 (a) and (b)
	Data collected by the Home Office are held on systems secured to Government standards and are managed according to the Data Protection Act (1998). Those managing these information assets are "trusted stewards" with an obligation to protect it. Any transmission of protected personal information is performed according to the Data Handling Review recommendations and with the security of the of the information in mind.
	 (c)
	The Home Office disposal of personal information is governed by the Data Protection Act and the Home Office review and retention policies. These policies are based on the standards set by The National Archive, which specifies time limits for the retention of information. The Department's security policy governs the classification of information and the disposal policies that control the appropriate methods of destruction.

Departmental Databases

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether  (a) companies based in the United States and  (b) UK subsidiaries of US companies have been contracted by her Department and its agencies to provide services involving the use, storage, processing or analysis of databases of personal information held by the Government on UK citizens in the last five years.

Liam Byrne: The Home Office including its agencies has engaged UK subsidiaries of US-registered service providers to manage aspects of storage, processing or analysis of personal information.
	The Data Protection Act 1998 includes provisions to ensure that personal data benefits from adequate protection when it is transferred outside the European Economic Area by UK data controllers. Contracts are based on UK contract law with the applicable statutory safeguards.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in her Department were  (a) dismissed,  (b) made subject to disciplinary procedures short of dismissal,  (c) moved to different duties as a result of a performance assessment and  (d) offered early retirement in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: The number of staff  (a) dismissed and  (b) subject to formal disciplinary procedures for poor performance within Home Office headquarters, the UK Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service, and the Criminal Records Bureau, is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			   Dismissed  Disciplined short of dismissal  Moved to different duties 
			 2003 — — — 
			 2004 0 15 — 
			 2005 — 13 — 
			 2006 5 38 — 
			 2007 12 40 — 
			 2008 (to 30 June 2008) 8 37 — 
		
	
	The information contained in the table has been drawn from centrally held databases at this time.
	Information prior to 2005, or on the number of staff moved to different duties as a result of poor performance, is not held centrally within Home Office HQ or the UK Border Agency and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Where fewer than five members of staff were dismissed, disciplined or moved to different duties, further information has been withheld on grounds of confidentiality.
	The number of staff given early retirement within Home Office headquarters, the UK Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service, and the Criminal Records Bureau in each of the last five financial years is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Table 2 
			   Number 
			 2002-03 10 
			 2003-04 18 
			 2004-05 13 
			 2005-06 141 
			 2006-07 125 
			 2007-08 84 
			 2008-09 (to 11 July 2008) 112 
		
	
	The numbers are calculated on the basis of last day of service.

Departmental Early Retirement

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in  (a) her Department and  (b) her Department's agencies have taken early retirement in the last two years.

Liam Byrne: The following table shows the numbers of staff in the Home Office and its agencies who have taken early retirement in the last two full financial years and the current year to date.
	The numbers are calculated on the basis of last day of service.
	A more detailed breakdown, including distinguishing between Home Office headquarters and the UK Border Agency and between different types of retirement, could be obtained only by running additional, tailored, reports and this would incur disproportionate cost.
	The following table shows the number of staff taking early retirement from the Home Office and its agencies by financial year since 2006-07.
	
		
			   2006-07  2007-08  2008-09( 1) 
			 HO headquarters and UK Border Agency 107 70 110 
			 Criminal Records Bureau 0 1 1 
			 Identity and Passport Service 18 13 1 
			 (1) 1 April to 11 July 2008.

Departmental ICT

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the  (a) start date,  (b) original planned completion date,  (c) current expected completion date,  (d) planned cost and  (e) current estimated cost is for each information technology project being undertaken by her Department and its agencies; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Following is a table of information technology projects currently being undertaken by the Home Office and its agencies. Please note that, due to the large number of IT projects run by the Home Office we have limited the scope of this response to projects valued at more than £5 million.
	
		
			  Business owner  Programme  Start date  Original planned completion  Current expected completion  Planned cost (£)  Current estimated cost (£) 
			 UK Border Agency eBorders 14 November 2007 1 March 2014 1 March 2014 849.5 million 827.3 million 
			 IPS National Identity Scheme—IPS element 24 October 2006 2012 2012 (1)5.43 billion (2)4.74 billion 
			 UKBA Identity Cards for Foreign Nationals (formerly BRP) April 2007 March 2009 August 2010 (3)( )9.6 12.4 million 
			 UK Border Agency Immigration Casework (ICW)(4) April 2008 June 2015 June 2015 370 million 370 million 
			 UK Border Agency Points Based System (PBS) July 2008 March 2011 March 2011 33 million 33 million 
			 Shared Services SBS Programme 2005 2011 2011 32 million (5)41 million 
			 CRCSG/Independent Safeguarding Authority Vetting and Barring Scheme January 2007 April 2009 October 2009 (6)84 million (6)84 million 
			 (1 )10 year period October 2007 to October 2017) consisting of: set up costs £0.24 billion, operational costs £5.19 billion (2007-08 prices). (2 )10 year period April 2008 to April 2018) consisting of: set up costs £0.32 billion, operational costs £4.42 billion (2008-09 prices). (3 )For IT costs only high level estimate at start of project. (4) These figures are estimates developed for the ICW OBC. They have not yet been baselined. (5) Including costs of enhanced technology and Procurement Centre of Excellence. (6 )Set up £246 million operational costs over five years. 
		
	
	In addition to the above, the Home Office is also the lead department for the cross Government Interception Modernisation Programme, announced by the Prime Minister in February 2008

Departmental ICT

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of her Department's personal digital assistants were  (a) lost and  (b) stolen in each of the last five years; and what the value of those items was.

Liam Byrne: Since 2005, Home Office IT Shared Services have enabled access to the Home Office IT infrastructure via the use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) for personnel in Home Office HQ and UKBA.—the UK Border Agency.
	Numbers reported lost and stolen are given in the following table.
	The devices are provided by a third party supplier, to whom the Department pays a service charge. Hence, the value of any losses would be borne by the supplier.
	The devices are security protected. Attempted use by unauthorised persons results in the device being locked or the data being completely erased after three failed password attempts.
	We do not have comprehensive central records for any devices issued prior to 2005.
	
		
			   Lost  Stolen  Value (£) 
			 2005 0 0 0 
			 2006 6 1 (1)— 
			 2007 10 2 (1)— 
			 2008 8 3 (1)— 
			 (1 )Cost borne by third party.

Departmental ICT

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she has taken to ensure that counterfeit routers and other hardware are not utilised in her Department's computer networks.

Liam Byrne: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for departments to confirm whether they hold information about malicious attacks against their IT systems.

Departmental ICT

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of the cost of the PentiP computer system; and if she will make a statement on the timetable for its introduction.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The estimated cost of designing, developing and implementing the PentiP system is £19.3 million.
	PentiP will introduce a number of improvements to the current working processes involved in dealing with penalty notices. The net effect of which will be a more efficient overall process for the police staff who input tickets to the system and for the courts' staff who process the payment of fines.
	The first stage of PentiP, which supports the National Driver Improvement Scheme (NDORS), has now been delivered. It is planned that the contract for the delivery of the remainder of the PentiP system will be awarded in March 2009. Implementation of PentiP in all forces in England and Wales will be completed by May 2012.

Departmental Internet

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if her Department will  (a) follow the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) guidelines and  (b) display ICRA's label on the websites for which it is responsible.

Liam Byrne: The Government are committed to safety online for all users, including children. The Central Office for Information is preparing a new set of guidance for many aspects of the Government web estate and we will implement what they mandate.

Departmental Manpower

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many jobs her Department expects to relocate under the policy of civil service job dispersal.

Liam Byrne: The Home Office has a target to locate 2,200 full-time equivalent (FTE) posts in the regions, to contribute to the cross-Government target of 20,000 FTE posts by 2010. Progress is reported in my Department's annual report (Cm 7396).
	Despite meeting this target in June 2007 we have still continued to relocate staff out of London and the south east. To date, the number of staff that we have relocated stands at 2,707. The policy of relocation makes use of diverse and valuable skills that can be found across all regions of the UK as well as in London and the South East.
	Over the next 18 months we shall continue to relocate posts in the most cost effective manner. We currently have plans in place to relocate a further 250 posts, this figure may rise as and when we make further relocations, depending on the needs of the business.

Departmental Marketing

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of  (a) internet and website design and hosting,  (b) print media design and  (c) broadcast media of each of her Department's public information campaigns since 1997.

Liam Byrne: It is not possible for the Home Office to calculate the costs of print media design without incurring disproportionate costs.

Departmental Paper

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of paper used  (a) for photocopying and  (b) in printed publications by her Department was from recycled sources in each of the last two years.

Liam Byrne: 100 per cent. of the paper used by the core Home Office for photocopying is from recycled sources, and has been for the last two years. The Department also has a policy of using paper from recycled sources for its printed publications where practicable, although we do not have information on the percentage used.

Departmental Pay

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of her Department's staff are employed within each salary band; what the title and role of each position within each salary band is; and for each salary band what the  (a) bonus structure,  (b) retirement provision,  (c) expenses provision,  (d) total expenses incurred in each of the last 10 years,  (e) average age of employee,  (f) number of (i) women and (ii) men and  (g) ethnic composition is.

Liam Byrne: The data is in presented (tables 1 and 2) by grade bands rather than by the requested salary bands. They provide average age, gender and ethnicity information. To provide the information by salary bands would incur a disproportionate cost due to the way the databases are organised.
	The Home Office Headquarters (HOHQ) and the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) do not centrally record the title and role of each employee; to provide this information would incur a disproportionate cost.
	 Bonuses( 1)
	Bonuses are funded from the existing pay bill. As part of the annual salary award, non-consolidated (cash) bonuses may be awarded to staff below SCS who have demonstrated exceptional performance. Special bonuses may also be awarded to recognise outstanding achievements.
	Bonus arrangements for the SCS are set out in the Senior Salaries Review Body report which can be found at:
	http://www.home.uk.com/downloads/30thpercent20Report percent20onpercent20Seniorpercent20Salariespercent20-percent202008.pdf
	(1) Applies to UK Border Agency and Home Office Headquarters.
	 Retirement provision
	Those eligible for a retirement provision are covered by the terms of the Principle Civil Service Scheme. This scheme is administered by the Civil Service Pensions Division of the Cabinet Office. The following link may be useful:
	http://www.civilservice-pensions.gov.uk/publications.aspx
	Reimbursement of expenses incurred in the course of official work Permanent Home Office staff and others (such as contractors (when specified in their contract) who are employed by the Home Office) are entitled to reimbursement for expenses that are necessarily incurred in the course of their duties including, for example travel and accommodation. When no extra expense is incurred, no reimbursement is due.
	HO HQ and UKBA are unable to provide expenses paid to staff in civil service salary bands only, without incurring disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Table 1: HO HQ staff breakdown by grade, gender, ethnicity and average age data as at 31 March 2008 
			  Grade  Title  Full time equivalent  Headcount  Percentage headcount  Male  Female  BME  Prefer not to say  White  Unknown  Average age 
			 AA Administrative Assistant 113.51 119 3 68 51 7 1 24 87 39 
			 AO Administrative Officer 471.58 500 14 176 324 92 8 176 224 41 
			 EO Executive Officer 545.33 566 16 232 334 125 12 246 183 40 
			 HEO Higher Executive Officer 608.66 624 17 326 298 59 4 297 264 37 
			 SEO Senior Executive Officer 533.77 550 15 308 242 58 7 301 184 41 
			 G7 Grade 7 492.31 506 14 297 209 32 20 266 188 41 
			 G6 Grade 6 204.97 210 6 122 88 10 5 158 57 46 
			 SCS Senior Civil Servant 147.35 149 4 113 36 4 1 90 54 48 
			 Other — 401.5 402 11 248 154 1 1 18 382 33 
			 Total  3,519 3,626 100 1,890 1,736 388 59 1,556 1,623 41 
			 
			 Percentage  100 100 — 52 48 11 2 43 45 — 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: UKBA staff breakdown by grade, gender, ethnicity and average age data as at 31 March 2008 
			  Grade  Title  Full time equivalent  Headcount  Percentage headcount  Male  Female  BME  Prefer not to say  White  Unknown  Average age 
			 AA Administrative Assistant 2,003.6 2,180 11.33 695 1,048 228 10 422 1,082 39 
			 AO/AIO Administrative Officer/Assistant Immigration Officer 4,793.9 5,174 26.90 2,115 2,942 970 27 1,693 2,368 38 
			 EO/IO Executive Officer/Immigration Officer 6,781.6 7,137 37.10 3,179 3,838 1,302 58 3,074 2,583 39 
			 HEO//CIO Higher Executive Officer/Chief Immigration Officer 2,793.6 2,905 15.10 1,341 1,471 302 21 1,408 1,081 34 
			 SEO/IMM INSP Senior Executive Officer/HM Immigration Inspector 1,153.6 1,196 6.22 556 576 132 11 727 262 42 
			 G7 Grade 7 402.27 416 2.16 197 195 19 6 265 102 43 
			 G6 Grade 6 133.77 137 0.71 86 47 3 0 92 38 44 
			 SCS Senior Civil Servant 51.6 52 0.27 31 15 0 0 29 17 46 
			 NA(1) — 40 40 0.21 — — — — — — — 
			 Total  18,153.94 19,237 100.00 8,200 10,132 2,956 133 7,710 7,533 40 
			 
			 Percentage  100 100 — 45 55 16 1 42 41 — 
			 (1) A small number of new or temporary staff were held on the date in question without a grade recorded, on the personnel information management system.

Departmental Pensions

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of staff in her Department were making additional voluntary contributions to their pensions in each of the last two years.

Liam Byrne: In February 2007, 965 staff were contributing to recognised AVC schemes, partnership pension schemes and stakeholder pension schemes. This total represented 1.28 per cent. of employees. These figures are for staff in core Home Office, Prison Service, Borders and Immigration Agency, Identity and Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau.
	In February 2008, 398 staff were making contributions to recognised AVC schemes, partnership pension schemes and stakeholder pension schemes, which represents 1.40 per cent. of employees. The figures are for staff in core Home Office, Borders and Immigration Agency, Identity and Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau. They do not include Prison Service, which became part of Ministry of Justice in May 2007.

Departmental Pensions

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cash equivalent transfer value is of the public sector pensions of the 10 highest paid members of staff in her Department and its executive agencies; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: It is not appropriate to disclose values for staff, other than those whose details are reported on in Remuneration Reports in the Department's Resource Accounts. A copy of the Resource Accounts for the financial year 2007-08 can be found in the Library. The document can be accessed electronically by the following link.
	Home Office Resource Accounts 2007-08 (pages 29 to 32 refer):
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/resource-accounts-07-08?view=Binary

Departmental Retirement

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the mandatory retirement age in her Department is; and how many people were allowed to work beyond the mandatory retirement age in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: The following table shows the number of staff who have worked beyond the mandatory retirement age in each of the last five years.
	In 2005-06 and 2006-07, the Home Office HQ included the following Departments; Communities Group, National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR). NOMS and OCJR left in May 2007 to join the new Ministry of Justice, and Communities Group transferred to the Department for Communities and Local Government in May 2006.
	From 1 October 2006—in line with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006—the retirement age for all staff became 65 (before that, it was 60). Staff still have the option to take their pension and retire from the age of 60 and can, exceptionally, work until the age of 70 subject to certain conditions.
	
		
			   Retirement age 
			   60  65 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Home Office Headquarters (HO HQ)(1) n/a n/a 91 4 23 
			 United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA)(1) n/a n/a 454 26 43 
			 Identity and Passport Service (IPS) 1 0 1 2 6 
			 Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)(2) n/a 7 7 8 15 
			 Total 1 7 553 40 87 
			 (1) Data for HO HQ and UKBA is not available for 2003-05 without incurring a disproportionate cost. (2) CRB is unable to provide 2003-04 data without incurring a disproportionate cost

Departmental Sick Leave

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in her Department have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: The Home Office headquarters and United Kingdom Border Agency are unable to provide the requested sickness data without incurring a disproportionate cost. The period concerned will require manual checks for each record. This is due to the move from the old personnel information manpower management system (PIMMS) database to the current Oracle (Adelphi) database in 2004-05.
	55 staff in the Criminal Records Bureau and 326 in the Identity and Passport Service have taken five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last five years.

Departmental Sick Pay

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in  (a) her Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility have received sick pay for sick leave due to (i) stress and (ii) mental health and behavioural disorders in each of the last 10 years; what the average length of time was for which sick pay was paid in these cases; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Prior to 1 April 2007 annual sick absence reporting across Government Departments was published by the Cabinet Office. Data for Government Departments was not analysed and reported at the time against the criteria outlined in the question and it is not possible for the Home Office to do so now, retrospectively, without incurring disproportionate cost.
	From 1 April 2007 sick absence reporting across Government Departments was standardised and reported via quarterly surveys to Cabinet Office. Figures are reported as paid days lost to sickness by length of sick absence (short and medium term) and by absence reason.
	One category of absence reason is "Mental Disorders" which includes all mental health and behavioural disorders as well as stress, anxiety and depression. The Home Office currently does not analyse and report figures against the full criteria outlined in the question and is not possible now without incurring disproportionate cost.
	The Home Office is currently piloting a new standardised data source for its HR reporting; the intention is to move to this new data source by the end of this financial year so that it will be in a position to answer future questions about its staff more fully than has been the case in the past.
	Figures for the Home Office and its Agencies for the financial year 2006-07 for those receiving sick pay for Mental Disorders, and as reported to Cabinet Office, are as follows:
	
		
			  Summary  Days lost (short term)  Days lost (long term)  Total days lost (12 month period) 
			 Home Office Headquarters 498 4,242.00 4,740.00 
			 Home Office UKBA 7,395.70 40,325.60 47,721.30 
			 Home Office IPS 1,696.50 9,279.00 10,975.50 
			 Home Office CRB 861 1,113.00 1,947.00 
			 Home Department Grand To 10,451.20 54,959.60 65,410.80(1) 
			 (1) Grand totals vary due to rounding on Cabinet Office spreadsheets used by Departments for Quarterly Returns. 
		
	
	The Home Office does not analyse and report HR information on its non-departmental public bodies against the criteria outlined in the question and to do so now would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Vetting

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of staff recruited to  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies were required to have a Criminal Records Bureau check before an offer of employment was made in each year since 2002.

Liam Byrne: A Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check is primarily a requirement for posts that involve working with children and/or vulnerable adults. Home Office headquarters and the Criminal Records Bureau do not require staff to undergo CRB checks prior to being offered employment. The UK Border Agency has carried out 1,449 CRB checks in total for staff since 2002. A breakdown by year could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost. The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) only require staff within the Interview Office Network to undergo CRB checks. The network has been in place for three years. Table 1 shows the percentage of IPS staff employed who had CRB checks before being made an offer of employment in each year was as follows:
	
		
			  Table 1 
			   Percentage of staff 
			 2005-06 1.6 
			 2006-07 13.5 
			 2007-08 1.4

Detention Centres: Translation Services

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what appointment procedures individuals, organisations or companies providing interpretation services in detention or immigration centres are subject to; what account is taken of the specific needs of those in detention and immigration centres in such appointment procedures; whether specific training is provided for those working as interpreters; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 15 September 2008
	Immigration Removal and Detained Fast Track Centres will either call on the services of an interpreter from the United Kingdom Border Agency panel of freelance interpreters for face to face interpretation or a commercial supplier for telephone interpretation. Detainee needs vary but are taken into account when arranging an interpreter as far as practicably possible.
	Asylum seekers are offered the option of an interviewer and interpreter of a specific gender. Applicants are made aware of this during screening procedures and this is acted on as far as operationally possible.
	Interpreters registered with the United Kingdom Border Agency panel of interpreters do receive training which is either one or two day in duration depending on the level of public service interpreting experience they hold.

Disabled Staff

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of staff in  (a) her Department and  (b) the executive agencies for which she is responsible are disabled; and what the average salary in her (i) Department and (ii) executive agencies is of (A) full-time disabled staff, (B) full-time non-disabled staff, (C) part-time disabled staff and (D) part-time non-disabled staff.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is not available for all staff because the declaration of disability is not mandatory: 'prefer not to say responses are available to staff.
	Home Office Headquarters and its agencies are unable to provide all of the information requested without incurring a disproportionate cost(1); that which is available is presented in the following table.
	We are unable to provide average salary information for disabled and non-disabled staff without incurring disproportionate cost.
	(1) Information on the proportion of staff recorded as having a disability has been obtained from the personnel information systems as at 31 May 2008. Information is only available for the proportion of staff that have chosen to declare themselves as disabled.
	
		
			  Staff in the Home Office and its agencies who have declared themselves as disabled 
			   Percentage 
			 Home Office Headquarters (HQ) 4 
			 UK Border Agency 4.12 
			 Criminal Records Bureau 3.10

Drugs: Misuse

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of testing people committing trigger offences as defined in Schedule 6 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 for the presence of a specified class A drug was in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what estimate she has made of the annual cost of extending testing for class A drugs to those committing other public order offences.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 10 September 2008
	Drug testing of people who have committed trigger offences as defined in Schedule 6 of the Criminal and Court Services Act 2000 for specified Class A drugs is conducted in authorised police stations across England and Wales as part of the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP).
	This drug testing is funded directly by the Home Office to the 23 police force areas authorised to carry out DIP drug testing.
	In 2007-08 the Government invested some £26.5 million in DIP drug testing. Over 80 per cent. of this investment funded the police to run DIP drug testing operations and the remaining 20 per cent. is spent on the provision of drug screening kits and confirmatory test analysis.
	Around 224,000 tests were carried out in 2007-08 including 1,232 tests authorised by a police officer of inspector rank or above for public order offences.
	The Home Office has not made any estimates on the annual cost of extending DIP drug testing to those committing public order offences.

Emergency Calls: Greater London

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many emergency calls were received by the police regarding incidents in  (a) the London borough of Newham,  (b) the London borough of Hackney,  (c) the London borough of Tower Hamlets and  (d) London in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Information on emergency call handling is available at the police force level only, and data for the Metropolitan Police Service are given in the table.
	The requested data are collected on behalf of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and were published each year in their Annual Report up to 2004-05. The available data are given in the table.
	
		
			  Emergency calls received( 1)  by the Metropolitan Police service for 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06( 2)  2006-07( 2)  2007-08( 2) 
			 Metropolitan Police 2,288,519 2,154,876 2,124,000 2,278,003 2,444,417 
			 (1) Data on the number of emergency calls are collected on behalf of HMIC, who previously published this Information in their Annual Report, HMIC have advised that it will no longer release this data and that the data for 2004-05 Is the last series to be published. (2) Provisional data that have not been validated by police forces.

Emergency Calls: Hoaxes and False Alarms

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hoax 999 calls to the police there were in each of the last three years in  (a) Bolton,  (b) the North West and  (c) England and Wales.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The information requested is not collected centrally.

Entry Clearances: Foreign Workers

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many businesses had applied for licences to sponsor foreign migrants by  (a) 31 July 2008 and  (b) 31 August 2008.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 10 September 2008
	The number of businesses which have applied for licences to sponsor foreign migrants by  (a) 31 July 2008 is 469 and  (b) 1 August 2008 is 799.
	The figures quoted are not provided under national statistics and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Entry Clearances: Iraq

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the percentage refusal rate was for UK visas applied for by Iraqi citizens  (a) at the British Embassy in Jordan and  (b) overall in the latest period for which figures are available.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The refusal rate for visa applications submitted by Iraqi nationals in the FY—financial year—2007-08 at the British embassy in Amman and globally was 51 per cent. and 43 per cent. respectively.
	Please note that these figures have not been previously published and should therefore be treated as provisional.

Genetics: Databases

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) males and  (b) females aged (i) under 15, (ii) 15 to 24, (iii) 25 to 34, (iv) 35 to 44, (v) 45 to 54, (iv) 55 to 64 and (viii) over 65 years in each ethnic appearance category were registered on the national DNA database in each of the last five years.

Meg Hillier: Data on the number of males whose profiles have been added to the National DNA Database (NDNAD) by English and Welsh police forces, as at 16 July 2008, broken down by sex and the age groups requested, is shown in table 1. Equivalent data for females is given in table 2. Age is defined as the person's age at the time DNA was taken from them, not their current age. This data could only be further broken down to show which profiles were added in each of the last five years at disproportionate cost.
	The number of profiles is not the same as the number of individuals. This is because a number of subject profiles on the NDNAD are replicates, that is, a profile for a person has been loaded to the NDNAD on more than one occasion. This may arise for a number of reasons, such as a person giving a different name on different occasions they are arrested, or because of upgrading of profiles. It is estimated that 13.3 per cent. of the subject profiles held on the entire NDNAD are replicates.
	Ethnic appearance is based on the judgment of the police officer taking the sample as to which of six broad ethnic appearance categories the person is considered to belong to. 'Unknown' means that no ethnic appearance information was recorded by the officer taking the sample.
	
		
			  Table 1: Male 
			  Ethnic appearance  Age range  Number of subject profiles  Number of individuals using 13.3 per cent. estimated replication rate 
			 Unknown Under 15 11,340 9,832 
			  15 to 24 71,251 61,775 
			  25 to 34 50,416 43,711 
			  35 to 44 36,863 31,960 
			  45 to 54 21,654 18,774 
			  55 to 64 10,347 8,971 
			  65 and over 4,186 3,629 
			  Unknown age on load 810 702 
			 Total unknown — 206,867 179,354 
			 
			 Black Under 15 20,531 17,800 
			  15 to 24 116,685 101,166 
			  25 to 34 79,665 69,070 
			  35 to 44 56,347 48,853 
			  45 to 54 16,045 13,911 
			  55 to 64 3,631 3,148 
			  65 and over 1,681 1,457 
			  Unknown age on load 6,451 5,593 
			 Total black — 301,036 260,998 
			 
			 Middle Eastern Under 15 804 697 
			  15 to 24 12,278 10,645 
			  25 to 34 12,003 10,407 
			  35 to 44 5,069 4,395 
			  45 to 54 1,829 1,586 
			  55 to 64 434 376 
			  65 and over 102 88 
			  Unknown age on load 288 250 
			 Total Middle Eastern — 32,807 28,444 
			 
			 Asian Under 15 10,905 9,455 
			  15 to 24 99,171 85,981 
			  25 to 34 66,185 57,382 
			  35 to 44 31,105 26,968 
			 . 45 to 54 14,508 12,578 
			  55 to 64 4,000 3,468 
			  65 and over 1,408 1,221 
			  Unknown age on load 2,166 1,878 
			 Total Asian — 229,448 198,931 
			 
			 White South European Under 15 3,751 3,252 
			  15 to 24 27,937 24,221 
			  25 to 34 24,250 21,025 
			  35 to 44 12,462 10,805 
			  45 to 54 3,972 3,444 
			  55 to 64 998 865 
			  65 and over 246 213 
			  Unknown age on load 1,091 946 
			 Total white South European — 74,707 64,771 
			 
			 Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian Under 15 533 462 
			  15 to 24 7,641 6,625 
			  25 to 34 7,078 6,137 
			  35 to 44 4,381 3,798 
			  45 to 54 1,741 1,509 
			  55 to 64 393 341 
			  65 and over 100 87 
			  Unknown age on load 113 98 
			 Total Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian — 21,980 19,057 
			 
			 White North European Under 15 227,880 197,572 
			  15 to 24 1,195,063 1,036,120 
			  25 to 34 664,089 575,765 
			  35 to 44 479,342 415,590 
			 . 45 to 54 234,760 203,537 
			  55 to 64 100,249 86,916 
			  65 and over 32,960 28,576 
			  Unknown age on load 53,243 46,162 
			 Total white North European — 2,987,586 2,590,237 
			 
			 Total male — 3,854,431 3,341,792 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Female 
			  Ethnic appearance  Age range  Number of subject profiles  Number of individuals using 13.3 per cent. estimated replication rate 
			 Unknown Under 14 5,333 4,624 
			  15 to 24 22,839 19,801 
			  25 to 34 13,389 11,608 
			  35 to 44 10,491 9,096 
			  45 to 54 4,971 4,310 
			  55 to 64 1,706 1,479 
			  Over 65 519 450 
			  Unknown age on load 53 46 
			 Total unknown — 59,301 51,414 
			 
			 Black Under 14 7,976 6,915 
			  15 to 24 31,087 26,952 
			  25 to 34 18,897 16,384 
			  35 to 44 11,904 10,321 
			  45 to 54 3,063 2,656 
			  55 to 64 492 427 
			  Over 65 133 115 
			  Unknown age on load 294 255 
			 Total black — 73,846 64,024 
			 
			 Middle Eastern Under 14 144 125 
			  15 to 24 960 832 
			  25 to 34 844 732 
			  35 to 44 602 522 
			  45 to 54 288 250 
			  55 to 64 84 73 
			  Over 65 29 25 
			  Unknown age on load 7 6 
			 Total Middle Eastern — 2,958 2,565 
			 
			 Asian Under 14 2,166 1,878 
			  15 to 24 13,579 11,773 
			  25 to 34 8,751 7,587 
			  35 to 44 4,519 3,918 
			  45 to 54 1,973 1,711 
			  55 to 64 588 510 
			  Over 65 128 111 
			  Unknown age on load 66 57 
			 Total Asian — 31,770 27,545 
			 
			 White South European Under 14 1,815 1,574 
			  15 to 24 6,741 5,844 
			  25 to 34 4,241, 3,677 
			  35 to 44 2,336 2,025 
			  45 to 54 808 701 
			  55 to 64 195 169 
			  Over 65 46 40 
			  Unknown age on load 76 66 
			 Total white South European — 16,258 14,096 
			 
			 Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian Under 14 267 231 
			  15 to 24 2,927 2,538 
			  25 to 34 2,609 2,262 
			  35 to 44 1,587 1,376 
			  45 to 54 678 588 
			  55 to 64 165 143 
			  Over 65 31 27 
			  Unknown age on load 14 12 
			 Total Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian — 8,278 7,177 
			 
			 White North European Under 14 99,852 86,572 
			  15 to 24 321,176 278,460, 
			  25 to 34 166,925 144,724 
			  35 to 44 134,767 116,843 
			  45 to 54 58,131 50,400 
			  55 to 64 19,347 16,774 
			  Over 65 4,976 4,314 
			  Unknown age on load 2,807 2,434 
			 Total white North European — 807,981 700,520 
			 
			 Total female — 1,000,392 867,340

Genetics: Databases

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 18 April 2006,  Official Report, column 290W, on DNA database, what the projected growth is for the number of individuals with a DNA profile on the national DNA database over the next five years.

Meg Hillier: Updated figures for the projected growth in the number of individuals on the National DNA Database are not yet available.
	Work on revising the figures is in progress. It will also take account of the judgment in the S and Marper case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on the proportionality of retaining biometric data for those charged but not convicted of an offence. The ECtHR judgment is expected later this year. Revised projections should be available in early 2009.

Genetics: Databases

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of people with DNA profiles held on the national DNA database living in  (a) Leeds West constituency,  (b) Leeds Metropolitan District and  (c) the UK are of (i) Asian, (ii) Black and (iii) Eastern European ethnic origin and are under 18 years old.

Meg Hillier: Information held on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) is available on the basis of the police force which added the DNA profile, not the residence of the person sampled. Information is, therefore, not available on the number of residents of Leeds, West constituency or Leeds metropolitan district who have had a DNA profile added to the NDNAD, but is available on the number of profiles loaded by West Yorkshire police. The people from whom these profiles were taken may not be resident in the area where they were sampled.
	The NDNAD holds records on the ethnic appearance of persons who have DNA taken, based on the judgment of the police officer completing the record about which of six broad ethnic categories the person belongs to. These categories are white—north European; white—south European; middle eastern; Asian; black; and Chinese, Japanese or other south east Asian. There is no separate category for eastern Europeans. If the police officer does not make an entry for ethnic appearance, this is recorded as 'unknown'.
	It is not, therefore, possible to provide the information requested. However, it is possible to provide information on the number of profiles added to the NDNAD by West Yorkshire police, and by all English and Welsh police forces, broken down by age and the ethnic appearance categories used. The age shown is the person's current age, not the age they were when the DNA sample was taken. This is shown in the following table.
	The number of profiles held on the NDNAD is not the same as the number of individuals. As it is possible for a profile to be loaded onto the NDNAD on more than one occasion, some profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates. This can occur, for example, if the person provided different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests, or because profiles are upgraded.
	At present, the national replication rate is 13.3 per cent., that is, the number of people whose details are loaded is 13.3 per cent. fewer than the number of profiles. However, this rate may vary between police forces, so figures for the number of individuals whose profiles have been loaded are not given for specific forces.
	
		
			  End August 2008  Subject Profiles under 18s  Subject Profiles all ages 
			  Ethnic appearance  English and Welsh forces  Per cent. in each ethnic appearance group  West Yorkshire  Per cent. in each ethnic appearance group  English and Welsh forces  Per cent. in each ethnic appearance group  West Yorkshire  Per cent. in each ethnic appearance group 
			 Unknown 18,323 5.3 406 2.2 299,141 6.0 5,087 2.3 
			 Asian 14,507 4.2 1,876 9.9 268,896 5.4 24,591 10.9 
			 Black 25,897 7.5 1,108 5.9 383,859 7.7 11,529 5.1 
			 Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian 921 0.3 39 0.2 31,392 0.6 971 0.4 
			 Middle Eastern 1,306 0.4 28 0.1 36,947 0.7 1,293 0.6 
			 White-North European 279,031 81.0 15,264 80.9 3,870,526 77.7 179,358 79.8 
			 White-South European 4,341 1.3 155 0.8 93,098 1.9 2,003 0.9 
			 Total , profiles 344,326 — 18,876 — 4,983,859 — 224,832 — 
			 Total individuals 298,531 — — — 4,321,006 — — —

Genetics: Databases

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many DNA profiles on the national DNA database are of people resident in  (a) the UK,  (b) Leeds West constituency,  (c) Leeds Metropolitan District and  (d) Yorkshire and Humberside;
	(2)  what proportion of the population in  (a) Leeds West constituency and  (b) Leeds Metropolitan District has a profile on the national DNA database.

Meg Hillier: Information held on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) is available on the basis of the police force which added the DNA profile, not the residence of the person sampled. Information is, therefore, not available on the number of residents of Leeds, West constituency or Leeds metropolitan district, or the proportion of the population of those areas, who have had a DNA profile added to the NDNAD. Information is, however, available on the number of profiles loaded by the Yorkshire and Humberside police forces, as shown in the following table.
	The people from whom these profiles were taken may not be resident in the area where they were sampled.
	The number of profiles held on the NDNAD is not the same as the number of individuals. As it is possible for a profile to be loaded onto the NDNAD on more than one occasion, some profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates. This can occur, for example, if the person provided different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests, or because profiles are upgraded.
	At present, the national replication rate is 13.3 per cent., that is, the number of people whose details are loaded is 13.3 per cent. fewer than the number of profiles. However, this rate may vary between police forces, so figures for the number of individuals whose profiles have been loaded are not given for specific police forces.
	The total number of subject profiles held on the NDNAD for all police forces at 30 June 2008 was 5,193,986. Allowing for replication, this equates to approximately 4,503,186 individuals. The corresponding figures for English and Welsh police forces are 4,872,376 profiles and approximately 4,224,350 individuals.
	
		
			  Force  Number of subject profiles 
			 Humberside 84,014 
			 North Yorkshire 57,799 
			 South Yorkshire 121,007 
			 West Yorkshire 220,649

Genetics: Databases

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many individuals' data were held on the National DNA Database in each financial year for which records are available;
	(2)  how many social profiles were held on the National DNA Database in each financial year for which records are available.

Meg Hillier: The National DNA Database (NDNAD) is a continually changing database, so it is not possible to give the total number of profiles held on it at the end of each year retrospectively. However, the number of profiles added to it by English and Welsh police forces in each year since its inception is available. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) on 2 June 2008,  Official Report, column 733W.
	As it is possible for a person's profile to be loaded onto the NDNAD on more than one occasion, some profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates. This can occur, for example, if the person provided different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests, or because profiles are upgraded.
	Therefore, the number of individuals on the NDNAD is the number of subject profiles reduced by the replication rate. At present, the replication rate is 13.3 per cent., so the 541,920 subject profiles added to the NDNAD in 2007-08 equates to an estimated 469,845 individuals. However, the replication rate has varied over time, so it is not possible to provide a figure for the number of individuals added to the NDNAD for all years since 1995.

Genetics: Databases

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests she has received from other European member states for a crosscheck of a DNA sample against profiles on the national DNA database in the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: The number of requests received from all other countries to check profiles from unsolved serious crimes, or for the identification of an unknown deceased person believed to be a United Kingdom national, carried out by the National DNA Database (NDNAD) Custodian in each year since 2004-05, is shown in the table.
	
		
			   Number of searches 
			 2004-05 149 
			 2005-06 249 
			 2006-07 498 
			 2007-08 727 
		
	
	Before 2004, requests were rare, so no data was collated. The figures do not include the country of origin of the request, so it is not possible to tell which were from EU member states and which from other countries.
	The figures do not include requests which were received but not approved and processed.
	Most requests for the exchange of DNA information between the United Kingdom and other countries are routed through the United Kingdom National Central Bureau for Interpol (UK NCB) based at the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Other channels may include bilateral direct liaison between law enforcement authorities and formal mutual legal assistance channels. Exchanges of DNA information via these channels will almost always be a response to the needs of a specific criminal investigation.
	Requests from international law enforcement agencies for a search of the NDNAD are only processed where it is clear that the request is in the interest of prevention and detection of crime, national security or the data subject. They are also subject to a risk assessment, taking into account the justification for and proportionality of disclosure of the information in line with human rights. If cleared for processing, a one-off speculative search of NDNAD is made by the Custodian and information fed back to UK NCB.

Genetics: Databases

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the probability of an adventitious match between DNA profiles submitted by law enforcement agencies of other member states and DNA profiles held on the national DNA database arising from the use of the six loci standard;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the accuracy of the Interpol Standard Set of Loci (ISSOL) in comparing DNA profiles; and what assessment she has made of the differences between ISSOL and the standard in use in the UK;
	(3)  what assessment her Department has made of the accuracy of the six loci DNA comparison standard for sharing of DNA data.

Jacqui Smith: The greater the number of different areas of DNA (loci) examined by a DNA profiling system, the higher the level of accuracy.
	When the United Kingdom National DNA Database (NDNAD) was set up in 1995, the SGM system was used, which looked at six loci plus amelogenin (the area showing the person's gender). In 1999, SGM was replaced by SGM Plus, which looks at 10 loci plus the gender area. The probability of an adventitious (chance) match between full SGM DNA profiles of unrelated individuals is of the order of one in 50 million. The quoted probability of a match between full SGM Plus DNA profiles of unrelated individuals is one in one billion (i.e. one in a thousand million). The NDNAD Custodian carefully monitors replicate DNA profiles loaded to the NDNAD, and a key reason for doing this is to identify potential adventitious matches between SGM Plus DNA profiles derived from unrelated individuals. To date, no such adventitious match has been found. This indicates the SGM Plus match probability to be significantly lower than the figure quoted—it is probably better than one in one trillion (that is, one in a million million).
	It was decided when SGM Plus was introduced that it was not value for money to reanalyse all the samples taken between 1995 and 1999 to upgrade them from SGM to SGM Plus. However, if a match occurs involving an SGM profile, or a partial crime scene profile, the original samples are routinely reanalysed using SGM Plus to provide the best possible match.
	The Interpol Standard Set of Loci include seven loci plus amelogenin. Six of the seven loci are the same as in the SGM system. In order to carry out an Interpol search, six out of these seven loci plus amelogenin should be present. The Interpol Standard Set of Loci is therefore equivalent to SGM, with a discriminating power of approximately one in 50 million for full profiles from unrelated individuals.
	If a DNA profile submitted by an overseas police force matches a profile on the NDNAD, the information supplied to that force is limited to notification that a match has occurred. The match is only followed up by the requesting member state using existing mutual legal assistance arrangements where additional DNA profiling and scientific expertise are used to exclude the possibility of an adventitious match prior to any criminal proceedings.

Government Departments: Personal Records

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Government services require individuals to provide personal information to Government departments and agencies.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Human Trafficking

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suspected  (a) people traffickers and  (b) trafficking victims have been intercepted in maritime operations by (i) the UK Border Agency and (ii) other agencies engaged in border patrol in each of the last three years.

Liam Byrne: The information requested can be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.

Identity Cards: Aviation

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the potential advantages and disadvantages of the use of identity cards in the airline industry against existing security arrangements.

Meg Hillier: holding answer 10 September 2008
	 Stephen Boys Smith's report on personnel security in the transport sector considered the use of identity cards in the aviation industry and concluded that identity cards are a useful addition to identity assurance, which is a key factor in personnel security regimes.
	The Government are working closely with the aviation industries and trade unions to ensure that the identity card complements the existing pre-employment checking arrangements and we will be publishing an Impact Assessment in the next few months.

Identity Cards: Foreigners

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of foreign nationals in the UK who will hold a biometric registration document by June 2010.

Liam Byrne: The exact numbers of cards held by foreign nationals in June 2010 will depend on individual applications, the categories included in the scheme and the speed of implementation.

Illegal Immigrants

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suspected illegal immigrants have been apprehended in British waters as a result of boarding inspections carried out by boats used by  (a) the UK Border Agency and  (b) other agencies in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: The information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.

Illegal Immigrants

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many known overstayers  (a) were deported,  (b) were removed,  (c) left of their own accord and  (d) had no action taken against them in the last 12 months.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 10 September 2008
	The information requested on known overstayers could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost. No Government have ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case.
	As part of the Government's 10-point plan for delivery, by December.2008 the majority of foreign nationals will be counted in and out of the country. This is part of a sweeping programme of border protection which also includes the global roll out of fingerprint visas, compulsory watch-list checks for all travellers from high-risk countries before they land in Britain and ID cards for foreign nationals.
	On 19 June 2008, the Government set out its plans to more robustly enforce the immigration rules including the removal of those not entitled to be here. Copies of the document are placed in the Library of the House. It is also available to view at:
	http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/?requestType=form&view=Search+results&simpleOrAdvanced =simple&page=1&contentType=All&searchTerm=enforcing+the+deal &Submit=Go

Illegal Immigrants: Aviation

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fines her Department issued to airlines for carrying illegal immigrants into the UK in the last 12 months; and which airlines were fined.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 10 September 2008
	Under Section 40 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (as amended by the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002), air and sea carriers are liable to a fixed charge of £2,000 for each inadequately documented passenger brought to the UK.
	Between 31 August 2007 and 1 September 2008 a total of 2,767 charges were imposed on 163 different carriers. I am unable to disclose details of individual carriers for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

Immigration

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what service standards for the processing of leave to remain applications are in place.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is as follows:
	 General Casework Leave to Remain and Employment Leave to Remain
	Our current published service standards for deciding charged applications are:
	Applications made by post: we aim to decide 70 per cent. of applications within four weeks (20 working days) and 90 per cent. within 14 weeks (70 working days).
	Applications made in person: we aim to decide 90 per cent. within 24 hours.

Immigration Officers: Pay

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much sick pay was paid to immigration officers in each of the last five years; and what proportion of the immigration officer staffing budget this amount represented in each of those years.

Liam Byrne: The figures cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

Immigration Rules

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria she used to determine which of the 19,000 foreign nationals, dealt with as old cases, have been granted leave to remain; how many of these have previous convictions either in the UK or another country; what checks were made in the UK, or sought in other countries, in respect of such convictions; how many of these foreign nationals have dependants who are eligible for, or have received, leave to remain; if she will break down the 19,000 foreign nationals by  (a) nationality and  (b) type of case; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 7 January 2008
	Individuals' entitlement to stay in the UK is considered in accordance with the immigration rules. Before entitlement to stay is confirmed, including for any dependants aged 10 or over, details are checked against the Police National Computer to establish whether there is a criminal record. The checking process may also indicate if an individual is wanted for crimes outside the UK.
	The cases of any individuals with a serious criminal conviction are considered as a high priority. Any outstanding applications may be refused and consideration will be given to deportation.
	Obtaining figures on the number of applicants and dependants with criminal convictions would be possible only by examination of individual files and this would incur disproportionate cost.
	The original figure of 19,000 has now been updated and the breakdown of the figures you have requested is contained in the UK Border Agency Chief Executive's letter, dated 23 July 2008, updating the Home Affairs Select Committee, copies of which are in the House Library.

Immigration: Armed Forces

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account is taken of gallantry awards for service in the armed forces in determining applications for settlement in the UK.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 16 May 2008
	Discretion may be exercised to waive certain requirements of the immigration rules applicable to former members of the armed forces, including the requirement for an application for indefinite leave to be made within two years of the date of discharge. Discretion may be exercised in individual cases if there are strong reasons why settlement in the UK is appropriate and account is taken of all relevant factors. Gallantry awards may be one factor in whether discretion is exercised.

Internet: Security

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department's budget for cyber-security measures is.

Liam Byrne: The Home Office takes cyber-security very seriously. It is an integral part of every Home Office IT system but is not costed separately, hence it is not feasible to give a total budget figure.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer the letter to her dated 29 May 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Viviea Duhaned.

Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 21 July 2008.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will reply to the hon. Member for Walsall, North's letter of 8 July 2008 on a constituent, reference M12920/8; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 10 September 2008
	I have asked for further details on the case to be obtained by visa staff in New Delhi, and will reply to the letter by 30 September. I apologise for the delay.

Members: Correspondence

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letters of 26 February, 4 March and 4 June from the hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling regarding Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kelly.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 17 September 2008
	 I wrote to the right hon. Member on 16 September 2008.

National Security: Entry Clearances

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been  (a) deported and  (b) excluded from the UK on national security grounds since August 2005, broken down by quarter.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 17 September 2008
	 The figures are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			  (a) Deportations  
			  2006  
			 2nd quarter 2 
			 3rd quarter 1 
			   
			  2007  
			 1st quarter 4 
			 2nd quarter 1 
			 3rd quarter 1 
			   
			 No deportations in other quarters  
			   
			 Total 9 
			   
			  (b) Exclusions  
			  2005  
			 3rd quarter (1)2 
			 4th quarter 5 
			   
			  2006  
			 1st quarter 4 
			 2nd quarter 5 
			 3rd quarter 5 
			 4th quarter 26 
			   
			  2007  
			 1st quarter 1 
			 2nd quarter 73 
			 3rd quarter 4 
			 4th quarter 2 
			   
			 Total 127 
			 (1) From August 2005

Neighbourhood Wardens: Foreign Workers

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the non-UK citizens who do not have a right to work in the UK but are licensed to work in the security industry by the Security Industry Authority have been accredited to perform community safety functions under the Police Reform Act 2002.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 10 September 2008
	The Home Office does not collect data centrally on individual accreditations made under the Police Reform Act 2002.

Neighbourhood Wardens: Foreign Workers

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department has issued on the accreditation of  (a) EU and  (b) non-EU citizens under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme; what checks her Department performs to establish whether applicants from overseas have criminal records in countries other than the UK; and what estimate she has made of the number of foreign nationals accredited under the scheme to date.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 10 September 2008
	 The Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have both produced guidance on Community Safety Accreditation Schemes (CSAS). The guidance is available on the Home Office website at:
	http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/community-policing/citizen-focused-policing/community-safety-accredit-scheme/.
	Community Safety Accreditation Schemes are established at the discretion of chief constables and, as the ACPO guidance makes clear, it is the chief constable who decides on the checks required of a person seeking accreditation. The Home Office does not collect data centrally on individual accreditations made under the Police Reform Act 2002.

Offenders: Deportation

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the 1,013 foreign nationals released from prison without being considered for deportation originally identified as  (a) the more serious and  (b) the most serious cases (i) have been deported, (ii) have been granted leave to remain in the UK, (iii) are outstanding cases and (iv) have yet to be located.

Liam Byrne: The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has regularly written to the Home Affairs Committee in order to provide the most robust and accurate information available on the deportation of foreign national prisoners. Her letter of 23 July has been placed in the House Library.

Passports: China

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will introduce measures to ensure that all passport details of unaccompanied children travelling on flights from China and Vietnam are sent to the Immigration Office of the UK airport prior to the aircraft's arrival; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 28 January 2008
	The majority of passengers travelling on flights from China and Vietnam to the United Kingdom are likely to be visa nationals. Biometrics are taken from all visa nationals over the age of five as part of the entry clearance process. The passport details and biometric information is available to immigration staff working at ports of entry.
	In addition to this UKBA—the Uk Border Agency—has a network of airline liaison officers (ALOs) based in key source and transit locations which are targeted by those who may seek to abuse the UK's immigration controls. ALOs provide a comprehensive programme of formal training for carriers in UK passport and visa requirements and forgery awareness. This training incorporates a session about the smuggling and trafficking of children and adults, and the means of identifying vulnerable children and their traffickers by their demeanour and the documents they may present.
	Finally, the e-Borders Programme will check and screen against watchlists 60 per cent. of all passenger and crew movements, including children, in and out of the UK by December 2009, 95 per cent. by December 2010 and 100 per cent. by 2014.

Police Patrolling

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time spent by a police officer on street patrol in  (a) Northamptonshire and  (b) England and Wales was in each of the last 10 years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 17 September 2008
	Information on time spent on patrol by police officers has only been collected since 2003-04. Values for Northamptonshire are set out in table A and values for England and Wales in table B.
	Time spent on patrol refers only to time when an officer is patrolling, but engaged in no other duty. Activity (such as advice to a member of the public) carried out while on patrol is recorded separately. The percentage of time spent on patrol needs to be considered alongside other activities. We use the front-line policing measure to provide a fuller picture of police officer activity, and figures for this measure for England and Wales are also given in the tables.
	The measure assesses time spent by police officers on core policing duties such as patrol, responding to 999 calls, as well as activities of CID and specialist officers. While these officers are not always visible to the public, they are none the less carrying out core policing duties.
	I am told by Northamptonshire police that they have invested significantly in proactive crime fighting activities to address serious and organised crime, major crime and terrorism. This focused activity has contributed to a reduction in crime for the people of Northamptonshire, but is not included in time on patrol.
	I am also told that in Northamptonshire, police responses to incidents requiring a rapid emergency response have risen by 20 per cent. This represents almost 9,000 more prioritised emergency responses to the public in 2007-08 compared to 2004-05. Public satisfaction at police response to incidents in Northamptonshire is also rising, and public confidence in policing in Northamptonshire (as measured by the British crime survey) has risen by almost 10 per cent. in the past 18 months.
	
		
			  Table A: Time spent on patrol and front-line policing measure, Northamptonshire, 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			  Percentage 
			   Time spent on patrol( 1, 2)  Front-line policing measure( 3) 
			 2003-04 13.9 66.7 
			 2004-05 15.0 59.7 
			 2005-06 13.1 65.4 
			 2006-07 11.5 64.3 
			 2007-08 10.2 — 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B : Time spent on patrol and front-line policing measure,  England and Wales , 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			  Percentage 
			   Time spent on patrol( 1, 2)  Front-line policing measure( 3) 
			 2003-04 14.2 63.6 
			 2004-05 15.3 62.3 
			 2005-06 14.0 63.6 
			 2006-07 13.6 64.2 
			 2007-08 (4)13.8 — 
			 (1) Data was not collected before 2003. The information is taken from activity analysis, which is collected by all forces over a two-week period in each year and provides a snapshot of how officers are deployed. (2) Includes only officers on foot/car/beat patrol, CID and traffic officers. These values exclude PCSOs. (3) Data was not collected before 2003. 2007-08 data not yet available. (4) Data does not include Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

Police: Greater London

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much on average it costs to employ a police constable in the London borough of  (a) Newham,  (b) Hackney and  (c) Tower Hamlets annually.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	Average pay and pay-related cost of employing a full-time police officer (of rank sergeant or below) are calculated based on the 2006-07 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) at regional level. This information is not available at police force area level.
	It has been estimated that the average pay and pay related cost of employing a full-time police officer in 2006-07 was approximately £45,830 in England and Wales.
	The cost of training and non-pay related costs such as premises, supplies and transport are not included in this estimate.

Police: Greater London

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the capital spend on the police service in the London boroughs of  (a) Newham,  (b) Hackney and  (c) Tower Hamlets was in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The information requested is not held centrally.
	The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Commissioner, who are responsible for assessing local needs.

Police: International Co-operation

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 April 2008,  Official Report, columns 119-21WS, on the Justice and Home Affairs Council, 
	(1)  how many times UK officers have been part of joint investigation teams performing operations in other member states in the last five years;
	(2)  how many times joint investigation teams have performed operations in the UK in the last five years;
	(3)  what powers European police officers acting as part of the joint investigation teams have on UK territory.

Jacqui Smith: We are aware of just one joint investigation team operation having been established under the provisions of the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters 2000 involving United Kingdom law enforcement. This was a joint United Kingdom and Netherlands drugs investigation which took place in 2005, to which there was a successful outcome.
	All members of a joint investigation team would be subject to the laws of the country in which the team is operating. Law enforcement officials from another member state act in a support and advisory capacity and would not have police powers when the team is operating in the United Kingdom. Teams operating in the United Kingdom would be under the strict control of a United Kingdom team leader.

Police: Labour Turnover

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the percentage change in the number of full-time police officers in Bolton North East has been since 1997.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Data on police personnel strength are collected by police force area, and have additionally been collected by Basic Command Unit (BCU) level from 2003 onwards.
	The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Greater Manchester police has increased by 14.6 per cent., between 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2008.
	The number of FTE police officers in the Bolton BCU has increased by 3.0 per cent., between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2008.

Police: Manpower

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in each police force in each of the last 10 years; and how many police officers there were per 1,000 population in each police force area in each year.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The information requested is published in the annual Home Office Statistical Bulletin series "Police Service Strength, England and Wales", copies of which are available online and in the Library of the House.
	The latest bulletin contains data correct as at 31 March 2008, and can be downloaded from:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0808.pdf
	Table 4 shows police officer strength by force and the number of police officers per 100,000 population.

Police: Public Participation

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent she plans to implement the recommendations contained in the report by Louise Casey, "Engaging Communities in Fighting Crime".

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 15 September 2008
	Following the Casey review, the Home Secretary announced that we will immediately take forward Community Champions, and the Policing Green Paper "From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing Our Communities Together" sets out our response in more detail. This includes the police service commitment to implement crime maps for every area and the new standard for the police service—The Policing Pledge—by the end of the year. The Government have appointed Louise Casey to a new role of Neighbourhood Crime and Justice Adviser based in the Home Office to help implement her proposals.

Racially Aggravated Offences

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many racially-motivated crimes were recorded in each police force area in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The available statistics relate to racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police and are given in the following table. It is not possible to separately identify those of a racial nature from those of a religious nature.
	
		
			  Total racially or religiously aggravated offences( 1)  recorded by the police in England and Wales, 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			  Number 
			  Police force area  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Avon and Somerset 1,256 1,431 1,326 1,337 1,027 
			 Bedfordshire 207 266 339 308 292 
			 British Transport Police 652 946 1,088 1,188 1,316 
			 Cambridgeshire 384 398 322 351 365 
			 Cheshire 400 438 569 557 536 
			 Cleveland 251 288 528 464 390 
			 Cumbria 116 186 232 219 187 
			 Derbyshire 600 474 494 492 554 
			 Devon and Cornwall 588 694 818 809 696 
			 Dorset 166 254 214 291 294 
			 Durham 138 154 258 304 245 
			 Dyfed-Powys 126 154 118 167 125 
			 Essex 760 807 796 922 913 
			 Gloucestershire 167 215 283 326 264 
			 Greater Manchester 2,864 3,203 3,398 3,677 3,637 
			 Gwent 240 233 289 269 234 
			 Hampshire 415 570 1,120 1,326 1,320 
			 Hertfordshire 730 859 985 954 846 
			 Humberside 438 488 417 655 407 
			 Kent 480 609 798 935 858 
			 Lancashire 1,085 1,183 1,363 1,238 1,042 
			 Leicestershire 809 980 1,007 1,055 941 
			 Lincolnshire 179 169 200 143 101 
			 London, City of 60 48 75 83 73 
			 Merseyside 943 1,061 1,420 1,423 1,100 
			 Metropolitan Police 9,468 9,444 8,769 8,226 7,353 
			 Norfolk 268 333 343 340 265 
			 Northamptonshire 413 389 455 422 455 
			 Northumbria 974 886 834 924 729 
			 North Wales 278 331 396 356 316 
			 North Yorkshire 54 133 205 234 172 
			 Nottinghamshire 619 551 566 715 793 
			 South Wales 794 735 713 555 611 
			 South Yorkshire 259 471 1,032 1,037 927 
			 Staffordshire 600 646 805 889 760 
			 Suffolk 297 244 240 329 328 
			 Surrey 482 510 845 588 305 
			 Sussex 552 575 710 991 776 
			 Thames Valley 1,104 1,154 1,128 1,483 1,233 
			 Warwickshire 187 222 293 379 416 
			 West Mercia 674 609 527 499 503 
			 West Midlands 2,479 2,413 3,071 3,338 3,249 
			 West Yorkshire 1,874 2,140 2,898 2,691 2,493 
			 Wiltshire 244 220 260 253 196 
			 England and Wales total 35,674 38,114 42,547 43,742 39,643 
			 (1 )There are currently seven racially or religiously aggravated offence classifications within the recorded crime series. They are as follows: less serious wounding, harassment, assault without injury, criminal damage to a dwelling, criminal damage to a building other than a dwelling, criminal damage to a vehicle and other criminal damage.

Revenue and Customs: Manpower

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many HM Revenue and Customs staff were based at each  (a) port of entry and  (b) airport as at 31 December 2007.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 10 September 2008
	 As at 31 December 2007, HM Revenue and Customs had approximately 4,500 frontline operational staff deployed at entry points across the UK. Officers are deployed to tackle smuggling at the frontier on an intelligence-led basis where risk is greatest.
	HM Revenue and Customs does not disclose the numbers of staff deployed to specific locations, as to do so could provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue and Customs controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.

Security: European Union

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with Council of Europe member states on the development of a European Union Standing Committee on Internal Security; and what powers are proposed for the committee.

Jacqui Smith: There have been no ministerial discussions on the development of a Standing Committee on Internal Security (COSI) with European Union member states.
	COSI would be created under Article 61D of the Lisbon Treaty which specifies that 'a standing committee shall be set up within the Council to ensure that operational cooperation on internal security is promoted and strengthened within the Union'. Under the Lisbon Treaty the exact role and remit of COSI would have to be agreed by the member states. The Government believe that the Committee should ensure that work to promote EU law enforcement co-operation, judicial cooperation in criminal matters and border management cooperation is coherent and effective in supporting the delivery of member states' public protection priorities.

Surveillance

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unauthorised surveillances were discovered by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 10 September 2008
	Covert surveillance activities which are unlikely to result in the obtaining of private information about a person do not require authorisation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and figures for these operations are not obtained by the OSC.
	Since 2004-05, law enforcement agencies have been required to report to the Chief Surveillance Commissioner "all covert operations in which statutory requirements have not been observed and also cases which fail in court on account of defects in covert surveillance". Figures for these have been published in the last two annual reports, covering 2006-07 and 2007-08, and are 67 and 56 respectively.

Surveillance: Local Authorities

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to require local authorities to publish their inspection reports from the Office of Surveillance Commissioners.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 September 2008
	We have no plans to do so. The Office of Surveillance Commissioners is independent of Government. The disclosure of inspection reports, including those relating to local authorities, is a matter for the Chief Surveillance Commissioner.

Terrorism: Asylum

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been denied asylum on the grounds of participation in terrorism since the announcement of the then Prime Minister's 12 point plan in August 2005.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 17 September 2008
	 The UK Border Agency achieves this by excluding those who have participated in terrorism from asylum under article 1F of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The statistics relating to exclusion from the 1951 Convention under article 1F do not differentiate between those who are refused asylum on grounds of participation in terrorism or for other grounds which are covered within article 1F. It is therefore not possible to give a precise figure in answer to the hon. Gentleman's question, except at disproportionate cost.

Terrorism: British Nationality

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been stripped of UK citizenship under the provisions of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2005 as outlined in the 12-point plan announced by the then Prime Minister in August 2005.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 17 September 2008
	 Orders depriving individuals of their British citizenship have been issued in two cases under section 40 of the British Nationality Act 1981, since its amendment by section 56 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

Terrorism: Entry Clearances

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been  (a) deported and  (b) excluded from the UK on the grounds of fomenting extremism under the 12-point plan announced by the then Prime Minister in August 2005, broken down by quarter.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 17 September 2008
	 We have taken the term "fomenting extremism" as equating to unacceptable behaviour under the policy announced by my right hon. Friend, the then Home Secretary on 24 August 2005. On this basis, the figures are:
	
		
			   Number 
			  (a) Deportations  
			  2006  
			 4th quarter 1 
			   
			  (b) Exclusions  
			  2005  
			 3rd quarter (1)4 
			 4th quarter 18 
			   
			  2006  
			 1st quarter 8 
			 2nd quarter 10 
			 3rd quarter 3 
			 4th quarter 11 
			   
			  2007  
			 1st quarter 0 
			 2nd quarter 7 
			 3rd quarter 5 
			 4th quarter 9 
			   
			  2008  
			 1st quarter 4 
			 2nd quarter 0 
			 3rd quarter (2)0 
			   
			 Total 79 
			 (1) From August 2005 (2 )To 16 September 2008

Terrorism: Extradition

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been extradited for terrorism-related offences since the announcement of the then Prime Minister's 12-point plan in August 2005, broken down by quarter; and how many requests for extradition for terrorism-related offences  (a) are outstanding and  (b) have been made since August 2005.

Meg Hillier: holding answer 17 September 2008
	As a matter of policy and practice, the Home Office will neither confirm nor deny the existence of any extradition request ahead of a person's arrest.
	Since August 2005, 13 people have been extradited by the UK for terrorism-related offences; five people have been discharged by UK courts; five cases are ongoing and one case was withdrawn by the Requesting State. The following table gives a breakdown of these figures.
	The UK has not issued any extradition requests for people suspected of terrorist-related offences in this time.
	
		
			  Extradition requests for terrorist-related offences since August 2005 
			   Number  Arrested  Status as at 17 September 2008 
			 2005 1 Pre-August 2005 Withdrawn by Requesting State 
			  1 3(rd) quarter Ongoing 
			  2 Pre-August 2005 Extradited 
			 
			 2006 1 Pre-August 2005 Discharged 
			  3 Pre-August 2005 Extradited 
			  1 1(st) quarter Discharged 
			  1 2(nd) quarter Extradited 
			  1 3(rd) quarter Extradited 
			  1 3(rd) quarter Ongoing 
			 
			 2007 1 Pre-August 2005 Extradited 
			  3 2(nd) quarter Extradited 
			  1 2(nd) quarter Ongoing 
			  2 4(th) quarter Ongoing 
			  2 4(th) quarter Discharged 
			 
			 2008 1 Pre-August 2005 Extradited 
			  1 1(st) quarter Extradited 
			  Note: There are currently four other cases before the courts which were received before August 2005.

UK Border Agency: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will instruct the UK Border Agency to provide a substantive response to the hon. Member for Walsall, North's letter of 11 August concerning a constituent, ref. B27195/8.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The UK Border Agency wrote to my hon. Friend on 12 September.

UK Border Agency: Drug Seizures

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what drug seizures have been made by or with the operational involvement of the revenue cutters operating in the Maritime Section of the UK Border Agency and its predecessors in each year since 1996-97; and what the  (a) date of seizure,  (b) type of drug seized,  (c) quantity of drug seized,  (d) location of operation,  (e) vessel intercepted and  (f) designation of cutter was in each case.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 10 September 2008
	 UK Border Agency cutters are deployed on an intelligence- led basis to areas of highest identified risk. It is longstanding HM Revenue and Customs policy not to divulge details of operational deployments, locations and seizures as these could provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent relevant controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention of crime.

UK Border Agency: Standards

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what revenue protection targets have been set for the UK Border Agency.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 10 September 2008
	Revenue protection targets for the UK Border Agency were published on the 3 April 2008 as part of the UK Border Agency Business Plan, April 2008 to March 2011.
	The targets are to:
	1. Seize in the range of 1.4 to 1.9 billion illicit cigarettes targeted on the UK.
	2. Seize in the range of 175 to 375 tonnes of illicit hand rolling tobacco targeted on the UK.
	3. Increase by 5 per cent. over 2007-08 totals the number of frontier interceptions of high risk alcohol consignments which are referred for sanctions.
	4. Increase by 10 per cent. over 2007-08 totals the number of seizures of commercial consignments of spirits referred for additional sanctions.

Video Games: Young People

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of retailers selling video games or DVDs to underage customers were recorded in each police force area in England and Wales in each year since 1997; how many  (a) cautions and  (b) fines were issued to such retailers in each year; and what the average fine imposed was in each year.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 15 September 2008
	Information on the number of recorded offences of retailers selling video games or DVDs to underage customers is not collected centrally. This is a summary offence and is not included in the police recorded crime statistics.
	Statistics on the number of police cautions issued, the number of fines imposed and the average fine have been provided by the Ministry of Justice and are given in the following table for 1997-2006.
	
		
			  Offenders( 1)  cautioned( 2)  and fined for supplying video recording of classified work in breach of classification( 3) , England and Wales 
			   Number of police cautions issued  Number of fines imposed  Average fine amount (£) 
			 1997 1 15 519 
			 1998 — 18 440 
			 1999 — 33 798 
			 2000 — 16 1,028 
			 2001 — 9 1,378 
			 2002 — 12 1,079 
			 2003 1 14 921 
			 2004 — 6 775 
			 2005 — 8 489 
			 2006 — 8 1,244 
			 (1) Companies, public bodies, etc.  (2) These data are on a principal offence basis.  (3) Video Recording Act 1984 S.11 as amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 S.88 (4).   Note:  These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Written Questions

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to answer Question 162680, tabled by the hon. Member for Hertsmere on 6 November, on English language requirements.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 1 September 2008,  Official Report, column 1562W.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Car Allowances

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what mileage allowance is provided to each category of entitled worker by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The Department ensures that staff use the most efficient and economic means of travel and that they are reimbursed only for expenses which they actually and necessarily incur in the course of their official business. All members of staff in the Department for Work and Pensions are entitled to the same rates of mileage allowance, regardless of grade.
	The rates differ according to the type of journey and type of vehicle used.
	Staff driving their own vehicles are entitled to the following rates:
	
		
			   Rate per mile  (pence) 
			 Standard rate higher (up to 6,000 miles per annum(1)) 40 
			 Standard rate lower (over 6,000 miles per annum(1)) 25 
			 Motor cycle 24 
			 Pedal cycle 20 
			 (1 )Reimbursement of expenses incurred on mileage in excess of 1,000 miles per annum is subject to approval of a satisfactory business case. 
		
	
	Staff driving private user scheme vehicles are entitled to the following rates:
	
		
			   Rate per mile  (pence) 
			 Petrol vehicles 15 
			 Diesel vehicles 13 
			 Liquid petroleum gas vehicles 9

Child Support Agency: Manpower

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff worked for the Child Support Agency  (a) at the latest date for which figures are available and  (b) in 1997.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Children: Maintenance

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals' postal addresses have been disclosed by the Child Support Agency to their former partners; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 30 June 2008
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individuals' postal addresses have been disclosed by the Child Support Agency to their former partners; and if he will make a statement.
	It is not the practice of the Child Support Agency to provide details of an individual's postal address to former partners. However, on occasion errors do occur and the Agency investigates each incident thoroughly and considers financial redress where appropriate. The Agency does not centrally collate records of these investigations.
	The Agency's records do show however that since January 2007, of the 1.3 million open child maintenance cases, the Information Commissioner's Office have informed the Agency of just three complaints from our clients alleging unlawful disclosure. These complaints were investigated by the Child Support Agency and, where appropriate, consolatory payments were made by way of an apology for the inconvenience, worry and distress caused.
	It is worth noting that there are also occasions where, with the consent of both parents, it may be in the interests of the child for the Agency to pass on contact details to either parent. The Agency is currently looking at how it can facilitate this transfer of information within the framework of the Data Protection Act.
	The Agency takes the protection of personal information very seriously. If you have any concerns relating to a particular case, I would be happy to investigate and respond accordingly.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Children: Maintenance

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what steps are taken when child support payments are wrongly awarded because of faults in computer systems; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many child support overpayments there have been due to computer errors in  (a) England,  (b) Wakefield District and  (c) Hemsworth constituency;
	(3)  what account is taken of the financial situation of the families involved when Child Support Agency overpayments are collected.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, 29 September 2008:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	; and
	; and
	What account is taken of the financial situation of the families involved when Child Support Agency overpayments are collected.
	Section 41B of the Child Support Act 1991 enables the Secretary of State to recover payments of child maintenance from the parent with care, where those payments are not validly made due to a computer fault or any other error, or where the non-resident parent has overpaid. In these circumstances, the Secretary of State will provide the parent with care with a written demand for repayment. In some cases, it may be possible to recover overpayments by temporarily reducing any ongoing maintenance due to the parent with care.
	In the event that a parent with care is required to repay any overpaid child maintenance in accordance with Section 41B, the Secretary of State must have first considered the impact on any child affected by the decision. The Secretary of State may decide not to pursue recovery in the event that taking such action would have a seriously adverse impact on any child within the parent with care's household.
	Information on the number of child support overpayments made due to computer error is not available.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Commercial Directorate

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of  (a) organisational charts for the structure of the Commercial Directorate below divisional level,  (b) organisational charts showing the relationships between the Commercial Directorate and the Provision Delivery and Performance Division (WWEG—Work, Welfare and Equality Group—Delivery Directorate) and  (c) a sample role description of a (i) Field Financial Appraisal and Monitoring (FAM) team member, (ii) Third Party Provision Manager, as referred to in chapter 2, paragraph 37 of DWP Provider Guidance and (iii) Contract Manager, as referred to in q.206, Flexible New Deal Question and Answer Log.

Anne McGuire: An organisational chart for the structure of the Commercial Directorate has been placed in the Library.
	The relationships between the Commercial Directorate and the Provision Delivery and Performance Division (Work, Welfare and Equality Group Delivery Directorate) cannot be explained through an organisational chart. However, the Provision Delivery and Performance Division is the primary link to the Commercial Directorate for the sourcing and management of commercially delivered employment programmes.
	The Provision Delivery and Performance Division has responsibility for:
	development of the Work, Welfare and Equality Group's commissioning and market strategy for employment programmes;
	financial allocations for third party programme provision;
	monitoring contracted employment programmes;
	Department for Work and Pensions' input to the European Social Fund programme; and
	delivering ongoing product support to existing programmes.
	Within the Commercial Directorate, the relationship with the Work, Welfare and Equality Group is led by the Commercial Employment Provision team. This has the role of:
	providing commercial advice on the development of new welfare to work initiatives that involve commercial delivery;
	developing and leading sourcing approaches for individual programmes;
	managing performance by suppliers throughout the life of contracts; and
	managing the development of the supplier market in line with the Commissioning Strategy, published in February 2008 (Cmnd 7330).
	Sample role descriptions for the following posts have been placed in the Library:
	Field Financial Appraisal and Monitoring (FAM) team member;
	Third Party Provision Manager; and
	Contract Manager.

Council Tax Benefit

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was received in council tax benefit on average by claimant families with a child  (a) claiming and  (b) not claiming disability living allowance in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: As at May 2004, the most recent available information, the average amount of council tax benefit paid to families with one or more children, where disability living allowance was in payment to a member of the family was £15.23. For families with one or more children where nobody in the family received disability living allowance, the average amount of council tax benefit was £13.27.
	 Notes:
	1. Council tax benefit excludes any second adult rebate cases.
	2. Average weekly amounts are rounded to the nearest penny.
	3. A family refers to a lone claimant or couple with responsibility for at least one child.
	 Source:
	Housing benefit and council tax benefit management information system, annual 1 per cent sample, taken in May 2004.

Council Tax Benefit

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion and number of council tax benefit recipients receive less than 100 per cent. council tax benefit.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 16 September 2008
	The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Number and proportion of council tax benefit recipients in receipt of less than 100 per cent. benefit: Great Britain May 2004 
			   Number/proportion 
			 All recipients 4,759,000 
			 In receipt of 100 per cent. benefit 3,826,000 
			 In receipt of less than 100 per cent. benefit 933,000 
			 Proportion of those receiving less than 100 per cent. benefit 19.61 
			  Notes : 1. The figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 2. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 3. The figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand and may not sum due to rounding. 4. Council tax benefit figures exclude any single adult rebate cases. 5. This is the latest available data containing the necessary breakdown.  Source: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Annual 1 per cent. sample taken in May 2004.

Departmental Alcoholic Drinks

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures are in place in his Department to monitor expenditure on alcohol for hospitality purposes.

Anne McGuire: The purchase of alcohol for hospitality purposes is provided as an exception only and then with the specific written authority only of a small number of designated senior civil servants. The Department for Work and Pensions does not currently monitor expenditure on alcohol for hospitality purposes. Such expenditure is included within the hospitality account.
	All expenditure on alcohol and entertaining falls within the classification "Hospitality" and is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on the principles set out in Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Departmental Alcoholic Drinks

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what purchasing process is used by his Department for the procurement of alcohol for hospitality purposes.

Anne McGuire: There is no purchasing process in use by the Department for Work and Pensions for the purchase of alcohol for hospitality purposes due to the fact that alcohol is provided as an exception only and then with the specific written authority only of a small number of designated senior civil servants.
	All expenditure on alcohol and entertaining falls within the classification "Hospitality" and is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on the principles set out in Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Departmental Appeals

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions his Department and its predecessor instructed the Treasury Solicitor to seek leave to appeal to the House of Lords from  (a) the Court of Appeal and  (b) the House of Lords itself in each of the last 10 years; and on how many occasions the application was rejected.

Anne McGuire: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Aviation

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individual domestic air flights were undertaken within Great Britain by representatives of  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies in the most recent year for which figures are available; and at what cost.

Anne McGuire: The number of UK domestic flights undertaken by representatives of the Department and its agencies from April 2007 to March 2008 is provided in the following table. Information in relation to flights undertaken within Great Britain only is not held by the Department.
	Travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code respectively.
	
		
			  Agency/Department  Number of flights  Cost (£) 
			 Central Services/Headquarters 3,290 576,440 
			 Disability and Carers Service 183 27,404 
			 Child Support Agency 4,809 798,004 
			 Pension Service 5,617 1,134,032 
			 Jobcentre Plus 4,338 779,446 
			 Total 18,237 3,315,326

Departmental Buildings

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what his Department's policy is on improving the energy efficiency of the buildings which it  (a) rents and  (b) owns; what changes there have been in the energy efficiency of such buildings in the last (i) five and (ii) 10 years; and whether his Department has adopted targets on energy efficiency improvements in the buildings it occupies over the next (A) five and (B) 10 years;
	(2)  what account his Department takes of the level of energy efficiency of buildings before entering into agreements to  (a) rent and  (b) purchase those buildings.

Anne McGuire: The Department is working to meet the energy efficiency targets within the targets for Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) and that is to increase energy efficiency per m(2) by 15 per cent. by 2010 relative to 1999-2000 levels. In the Department's case this would equate to 260.1 kWh/m(2).
	The following table provides the performance of the Department against the energy efficiency target:
	
		
			   kWh/m( 2) 
			 1998-99 300 
			 1999-2000 306 
			 2000-01 274 
			 2001-02 289 
			 2002-03 297 
			 2003-04 286 
			 2004-05 303 
			 2005-06 288 
			 2006-07 322 
			 2007-08 312 
			  Note: The figures from 1998 to 2002 are compiled from data for the former Department for Social Security and Employment Service. Figures for 2007-08 are subject to confirmation. 
		
	
	The Department acquires fully serviced accommodation from Land Securities Trillium (LST) under PFI—private finance initiative—arrangements. Any new space the Department requires is identified, acquired, managed and operated by LST to meet the Department's needs. The improved energy efficiency of our total operations is one of a range of issues that is considered in the acquisition of new space. Ease of access for customers and the requirements for highly efficient office space (both existing and new build) are among other criteria.
	Energy efficiency is incentivised within the PFI arrangement and is incorporated also within the Department's Estate Strategy. Specific measures to improve efficiency are detailed within the Department's three year Sustainable Development Action Plan, which is incorporated within its Sustainable Development Annual Report for 2007.
	While the Department's increased use of IT and extended opening hours, to provide a better service to customers and improved facilities for staff, has impacted on our energy efficiency, a planned programme of work is in place to meet the carbon from offices and energy efficiency targets. The Department has secured investment for 41,000 'spend-to-save' measures through its PFI arrangements and is installing Smart Meters in its largest 700 buildings to improve reporting and energy management. These measures, together with an intensive energy efficiency and communications campaign, have resulted in absolute carbon emission reductions of 10.8 per cent. in 2007-08. Their ongoing implementation, together with improved governance and a review of site plant and equipment, mean that the Department predicts a further reduction of 15 per cent. by 2011, meeting the Sustainable Operations target.

Departmental ICT

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department's IT  (a) systems and  (b) services conform to the ISO 27001 standard.

Stephen Timms: In-service IT systems and managed services take full account of the Department's policies and procedures for information security management, which conform to the principles and controls in ISO 27001. Systems that were implemented before the ISO standard was introduced are currently being reviewed for conformance with the Department's policies and procedures.

Departmental ICT

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the  (a) start date,  (b) original planned completion date and  (c) actual completion date was of each IT project completed by his Department and its agencies since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the  (a) original planned cost and  (b) actual cost was for each information technology project completed by his Department and its agencies since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 22 July 2008
	 We would refer to our previous responses:
	PQ/08/200070 (answered 25 April 2008,  Official Report, columns 2354-56W):
	"To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on IT projects since 2005; and what estimate he has made of its total expenditure on IT projects between 2005 and 2010"
	and
	PQ/08/180577 (answered 5 March 2008,  Official Report, columns 2591-96W):
	"To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the  (a) start date  (b) original planned completion date  (c) current expected completion date  (d) planned cost and  (e) current estimated cost is for each information technology project being undertaken by his Department and its agencies; and if he will make a statement"
	The costs of answering the above question would be available only at a disproportionate cost.

Departmental Manpower

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will provide a table showing the profile of the Department's staff by grade in  (a) total and  (b) each business unit.

Anne McGuire: The following tables show the profile of the Department's staff by grade in  (a) total and  (b) each business unit as at 30 June 2008.
	
		
			  Table 1: Individual employees 
			  Number 
			  Grade  Jobcentre Plus  Child Support Agency  Pension and Disability Carers Service  The Rent Service  Rest of DWP  Total 
			 Band A —Administrative Assistant 2,662 637 1,974 66 540 5,879 
			 Band B —Administrative Officer 37,758 6,336 9,066 41 3,383 56,584 
			 Band C —Executive Officer 28,442 2,944 5,617 352 2,324 39,679 
			 Band D —Higher Executive Officer 3,904 520 861 78 1,872 7,235 
			 Band E —Senior Executive Officer 1,114 143 372 22 929 2,580 
			 Band F —Grade 7 349 102 128 8 822 1,409 
			 Band G —Grade 6 138 32 82 3 323 578 
			 SCS Payband 1 40 14 21 1 133 209 
			 SCS Payband 2 11 6 7 0 37 61 
			 SCS Payband 3  1 1 0 7 9 
			 SCS Permanent Secretary 1 0 0 0 1 2 
			 Total 74,419 10,735 18,129 571 10,371 114,225 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 
			  Number on a full-time equivalent basis 
			  Grade  Jobcentre Plus  Child Support Agency  Pension and Disability Carers Service  The Rent Service  Rest of DWP  Total 
			 Band A —Administrative Assistant 2,379 548 1756 62 471 5,215 
			 Band B —Administrative Officer 33,153 5,469 8,094 40 3,045 49,801 
			 Band C —Executive Officer 25,604 2,703 5,095 345 2,178 35,926 
			 Band D —Higher Executive Officer 3,748 499 834 78 1,804 6,962 
			 Band E —Senior Executive Officer 1,088 140 365 22 904 2,519 
			 Band F —Grade 7 345 102 126 8 802 1,383 
			 Band G —Grade 6 137 32 81 3 309 562 
			 SCS Payband 1 40 14 21 1 131 207 
			 SCS Payband 2 11 6 7 0 37 61 
			 SCS Payband 3 0 1 1 0 7 9 
			 SCS Permanent Secretary 1 0 0 0 1 2 
			 Total 66,505 9,513 16,379 559 9,690 102,647 
			  Note: Totals may not sum due to FTE rounding.

Departmental Marketing

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of  (a) internet and website design and hosting,  (b) print media design and  (c) broadcast media of each of his Department's public information campaigns since 1997.

Anne McGuire: The extent of information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Overtime

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of overtime payments paid to staff in his Department was in each of the last 12 months, broken down by pay grade.

Anne McGuire: The following table details the cost of overtime payments in the Department for Work and Pensions by grade and month for the last complete financial year. The total cost from April 2007 to March 2008 is £64,528 representing some 2.3 per cent. of DWP's total pay bill in this period.
	
		
			  DWP overtime payments 2007-08 (by grade) 
			  £000 
			   AA/band A  AO/band B  EO/band C  HEO/band D  SEO/band E  G7  G6  Total 
			  2007 
			 April 188 2,195 2,191 315 117 0 0 5,006 
			 May 150 2,001 1,827 269 99 1 0 4,347 
			 June 232 2,958 2,522 283 125 0 0 6,120 
			 July 170 2,202 2,066 247 80 0 0 4,765 
			 August 192 2,666 2,489 237 86 0 0 5,670 
			 September 181 2,456 2,191 239 92 0 0 5,159 
			 October 118 1,679 1,848 246 89 0 0 3,980 
			 November 257 3,216 2,971 326 117 0 0 6,887 
			 December 138 1,648 1,699 223 83 0 0 3,791 
			  
			  2008 
			 January 163 2,224 1,799 204 85 0 0 4,475 
			 February 261 3,452 3,073 334 98 0 2 7,220 
			 March 269 3,258 3,093 374 112 1 1 7,108 
			  
			 Total 2,319 29,955 27,769 3,297 1,183 2 3 64,528 
			  Note: Includes travel time, ERNIC and superannuation.

Departmental Press

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by his Department on subscriptions for magazines, newspapers and other publications in each of the last 24 months.

Anne McGuire: The information is as follows.
	
		
			  DWP library expenditure April 2006 to May 2008 
			  £ 
			   Newspapers  Journals  Books  Total 
			 June 2006 6,966.26 2,337.26 71,685.18 80,988.70 
			 July 2006 5,939.03 69,421.90 132,969.54 208,330.47 
			 August 2006 5,778.84 342.59 65,802.54 71,923.97 
			 September 2006 6,375.36 728.41 152,024.94 159,128.71 
			 October 2006 5,198.24 1,067.25 332,270.64 338,536.13 
			 November 2006 5,180.92 10,209.11 95,340.76 110,730.79 
			 December 2006 5,485.33 3,118.88 52,607.70 61,211.91 
			 January 2007 6,196.54 13,289.08 74,298.92 93,784.54 
			 February 2007 5,788.90 4,865.08 87,826.46 98,480.44 
			 March 2007 6,891.95 1,141.60 144,757.64 152,791.19 
			 April 2007 6,286.22 8,070.46 74,909.52 89,266.20 
			 May 2007 5,440.64 4,558.12 55,932.16 65,930.92 
			 June 2007 5,713.35 26,803.78 75,122.12 107,639.25 
			 July 2007 6,069.79 67,647.50 61,958.26 135,675.55 
			 August 2007 5,255.48 2,345.08 54,124.08 61,724.64 
			 September 2007 4,992.86 2,042.09 55,260.72 62,295.67 
			 October 2007 5,613.15 3,046.14 90,873.78 99,533.07 
			 November 2007 5,780.68 3,273.36 55,511.44 64,565.48 
			 December 2007 4,296.73 10,071.88 159,030.34 173,398.95 
			 January 2008 5,889.49 4,376.70 49,110.60 59,376.79 
			 February 2008 3,343.73 4,817.15 49,473.56 57,634.44 
			 March 2008 4,304.69 3,768.34 115,276.14 123,349.17 
			 Apr 2008 3,864.56 2,383.54 44,695.12 50,943.22 
			 May 2008 3,956.36 5,416.49 47,168.66 56,541.51 
			 Total 130,609.10 255,141.79 2,198,030.82 2,583,781.71 
		
	
	All figures have been centrally gathered by the Department for Work and Pensions Library Services team who manage all publications purchases for the Communications Directorate.
	In addition, other teams across the Department may incur incidental expenditure relating to publications. These costs are recorded on a number of different financial systems and this detail is not consolidated by the central team, or included in the figures quoted in the table. The costs of undertaking such an exercise are considered to be disproportionate.

Departmental Procurement

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's policy is on requesting discounts from its suppliers in return for swift payment of invoices.

Anne McGuire: It is both Government and departmental policy to make payment to suppliers in arrears after goods or services have been satisfactorily provided and to pay promptly in accordance with the terms of the contract, which normally would be within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice.
	Suppliers will sometimes offer a discount for prompt payment. The conditions attached to these discounts must be stated on the tender or if not they must be obtained. If a tenderer offers a discount, commercial representatives will evaluate whether the discount offered represents value for money.
	Consideration is made of the value of the loss of interest that early payment will incur. The prevailing Bank of England base rate is used to calculate this and a comparison of the cost of paying early, with the monetary value of the discount offered, is made.
	Payment terms of less than 30 days are never accepted unless there is some advantage to the Department. Payment terms in excess of 30 days are not acceptable.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the  (a) forecast cost in (i) real and (ii) net present value terms and  (b) most recent estimated cost was of (1) the pension transformation programme, (2) the customer information system, (3) the employment and support allowance computer system and (4) the central payment system.

Anne McGuire: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			Originally planned costs  
			  Project  Purpose  Real  NPV  Latest estimated costs 
			 Pensions Project Transformation(1) The programme will transform the Pension Service, bringing together business and IT change in ways that improve customer service and deliver efficiencies. 429 350 598 
			 Customer Information System(2) This project will deliver a database of key citizen information to be shared across DWP. The database will complement information currently available in the Department's key customer information systems, i.e. Personal Details Computer System and Departmental Central Index, and become their replacement. Consideration is being given for wider use of CIS by other Government Departments. 40 42 89 
			 Employment and Support Allowance The project delivers the system and processes to implement the new ESA allowance. 295 282 295 
			 Central Payments System (formerly part of Payment Modernisation)(3) A modern integrated central payment engine and accounts payable system to improve accounting for benefit/pension payments, reduce risks of service failure, increased speed and efficiency, and information for improved customer service and reduced fraud and error. 90 154 169 
			 (1) Pension Transformation Project (PTP): The apparent increase over the original stated costs can be attributed to a fundamental change in delivery approach. When PTP started in April 2002, costs were early high level estimates based on delivery via a private supplier (who would recover development costs of the system through an operating contract). Policy later changed and it was decided DWP would fund the capital costs of PTP itself. As a result, development costs went up but operating costs went down. Overall, this actually means an improved return* on the total investment, although development costs appear higher than the very early estimate provided in 2002. * Net present value of the programme has increased by 40 per cent. to £585 million, compared to £350 million in the initial business case. HM Treasury guidance states the NPV is the primary criteria for deciding whether government action can be taken. This is arrived at by converting all costs and benefits to present values so that they can be compared. (2) Customer Information System (CIS): The original cost estimate of £40 million was based on the original scope of the project. There has subsequently been significant extension of the scope as the CIS Programme has responded to changes in the Departmental Modernisation Programme. The costs originally submitted for CIS in July 2003 assumed that CIS would be developed as a back-end system supporting the Customer Account Managements (CAM) systems intended for deployment in each of the Client Groups. It also assumed that the Standard Enquiry Function (SEF) would be developed to support a very small number of users who would not have access to CAM. Plans evolved with the result that the only Client Group to deliver a CAM system in line with this earlier specification was the Pension Service. The additional costs result from requirements to service both the 'old' Legacy applications and the 'new' PTP CAM, as well as developing and implementing architectural changes in a seamless way. In addition, the absence of CAM functionality meant that the SEF has been rolled out to in excess of 124,000 users. CIS scope was increased to deliver desktop access to approximately 19,000 staff in 408 local authorities for the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit replacing remote access terminals, which were provided to only a very limited number of users in each of these local authorities. The increased investment together with the delivery of enhanced requirements has resulted in CIS benefits increasing from £155 million to £533 million which includes direct benefits of £130 million and enabled benefits of £403 million. During this period, the introduction of CIS has led to the decommissioning of two major benefit systems (the Departmental Central Index and Personal Details Computer System) as CIS is now the master of personal details across all of DWP. Additional work has also been carried out with other Government Departments and further work is planned in this area. (3) Central Payments System (CPS): The figure of £90 million relates to the outline business case produced during the feasibility phase in 2004. This related to a scope that is significantly smaller than the current programme. The original scope was for the replacement of existing payment processing software and excluded an integrated accounting solution. Furthermore, the integration scope of CPS has increased from four entitlement management systems to nine. The NPV figure of £154 million relates to the full business case approved in March 2006. The figure of £169 million relates to the latest outline business case approved in May 2008.  Note: The costs in the table represent the investment costs of implementing the particular project and programme. Costs of running the solutions implemented by the projects and programmes are not included in the table as in the vast majority of cases, they are more than compensated for by the financial and non-financial benefits they generate. These savings are demonstrated in the NAO report "The Efficiency programme: A Second Review of Progress".

Departmental Responsibilities

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which projects his Department has commissioned from  (a) think tanks and  (b) charities in each of the last two years for which figures are available; what the aim of each project was; which think tank or charity was commissioned; and how much was paid.

Anne McGuire: The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Sick Leave

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the average duration of single periods of sick leave taken by staff in  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility who gave (i) stress and (ii) mental health and behavioural disorders as the reason for their absence was in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many staff in  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility have taken sick days due to (i) stress and (ii) mental health and behavioural disorders in each of the last 10 years; what proportion of staff of each body this represented in each year; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many sick days were taken by employees in  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility due to (i) stress and (ii) mental health and behavioural disorders in each of the last 10 years; what proportion of sick days taken this represented in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available or held centrally, and could only be provided incompletely and at a disproportionate cost. Information on sickness absence for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006-07 has been published and can be obtained from the civil service website:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/statistics/sickness.asp

Departmental Sick Leave

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average duration of single periods of sick leave taken by staff in  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility was in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available or held centrally, and could be provided incompletely and only at a disproportionate cost. Information on sickness absence for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006-07 has been published and can be obtained from the civil service website:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/statistics/sickness.asp

Departmental Sick Leave

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of staff in his Department have had more than two periods of sickness absence of less than five days in each of the last three years.

Anne McGuire: The information currently recorded on the Department's personnel computer system is provided in the following table.
	
		
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Number of staff 17,924 18,939 19,381 
			 Percentage of total workforce 12.1 13.5 14.9

Departmental Sick Leave

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last five years.

Anne McGuire: The number of staff currently recorded on the Department's personnel computer system as having had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last five years is 4,851. DWP currently employs more than 114,000 full and part time staff.

Departmental Sick Pay

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility have received sick pay for sick leave due to (i) stress and (ii) mental health and behavioural disorders in each of the last 10 years; what the average length of time was for which sick pay was paid in these cases; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The information requested is not available because the Department for Work and Pensions does not attribute sick pay to causes of illness.

Departmental Sick Pay

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in sick pay to staff in  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility in each of the last five years; what proportion of the staffing expenditure of each body this represented in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available or held centrally, and could be provided only incompletely and at a disproportionate cost. Information on sickness absence for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006-07 has been published and can be obtained from the civil service website:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/statistics/sickness.asp

Disability Living Allowance

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many claims there were for disability living allowance by  (a) children and  (b) adults with Asperger's syndrome in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many claims there were from  (a) children and  (b) adults with autism spectrum disorders for disability living allowance in each of the last five years; and what proportion these constituted of all claims for that allowance;
	(3)  how many claims there were for disability living allowance on behalf of  (a) children and  (b) adults with Asperger's syndrome in each of the last five years.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 4 December 2007
	The information is not available.
	Entitlement to disability living allowance is not linked to particular disabling conditions, but on the extent to which a severely disabled person has personal care needs and/or walking difficulties as a result of their disability. Parents can claim disability living allowance for children, including those with autism spectrum disorder, as long as their disability meets the aforementioned criteria.

Disability Living Allowance

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made in his Department's discussions on granting blind people entitlement to the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 21 July 2008
	We have been in long-term discussions with the Royal National Institute of Blind People and others on whether there is scope to extend the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance to people with severe visual impairments. While we understand the force of the arguments put forward by the Royal National Institute of Blind People, and are sympathetic to their aims, including providing greater financial assistance to allow visually impaired people to return to or remain in work, we cannot, at this time, commit to amending the existing arrangements for the mobility component of disability living allowance.
	The Green Paper, "No One Written Off: Reforming Welfare to Reward Responsibility" Cm 7363, published on 21 July, sets out our strategy to help greater numbers of sick and disabled people who want to work, fulfil their aspirations. Part of this strategy is the proposal to increase the Access to Work budget to help greater numbers of disabled people return to, and remain in, work. Currently, around one in four customers of Access to Work are people with a visual impairment.

Employment and Support Allowance

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on  (a) employment and support allowance and  (b) incapacity benefit in the latest year for which figures are available; and how much is expected to be spent on each in each of the next five years.

Anne McGuire: In 2006-07, nominal expenditure on incapacity benefit was £6,566 million. For the available information about future incapacity benefit expenditure, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 16 July 2008,  Official Report, column 472W.
	For the available information about employment and support allowance expenditure, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 13 June 2008,  Official Report, column 617W.

Employment: Learning Disability

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to help those with acute learning disabilities find sustainable employment.

Anne McGuire: People with moderate and severe learning disabilities encounter particular difficulties in finding paid work. They are therefore now one of four groups of disadvantaged people selected for special attention in the Government's Socially Excluded Adults Public Service Agreement (PSA16).
	As a direct consequence of PSA 16, we will support and engage with the Project Search initiatives in Leicester and Norwich and learn from their experiences in testing this approach. Project Search is an initiative through which a college tutor and support worker (job coach) are based within a host employer with the objective of placing people with moderate and severe learning disabilities into sustainable work.
	We also have a range of specialist disability employment programmes aimed at helping greater numbers of disabled people, including those with learning disabilities, take up and retain paid work. 37 per cent of people helped by the WORKSTEP programme of supported employment have a learning disability.
	Our Welfare Reform Green Paper, "No-one written off—reforming the welfare state to reward responsibility", Cm 7363 launched on 21 July, made clear that following strong support for the proposals to improve the specialist programmes, set out at the end of last year, we would now press ahead with these reforms. A more flexible approach will enable us to help greater numbers of people with learning disabilities. The Green Paper also made clear our intention to substantially expand the funding for the specialist programmes.
	The 'Getting a Life' project is specifically aimed at getting the employment, education and local authority day services functions for people with learning disabilities to work together in an integrated manner. This enables a seamless progression from school, through college or training into employment or, where appropriate, other activities. The project is being tested in seven demonstration sites.

Fish

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much fish was procured by his Department and at what cost in each of the last five years, broken down by species; and what amount and value of such fish met the Marine Stewardship Council standard in each such year, broken down by species.

Anne McGuire: The Department's expenditure on fish by species and the value of fish that met the Marine Stewardship Council Standard (MSCS) for the two years, 2006 and 2007, is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  £000 
			  Species of fish  2006  2007 
			 Salmon 9 11 
			 Prawn(1) 11 13 
			 Tuna 2 2 
			 Total 22 26 
			 Value of fish that met the MSCS 7 8 
			 (1) Financial figures have been included for prawns because although it is recognised that they are crustaceans and not fish, prawns are included as a species in the MSCS. 
		
	
	Information prior to 2006 and about the actual quantity of fish purchased, and the quantity of each species that met the MSCS, is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Additionally, the details of expenditure on fish is solely that required to provide hospitality for meetings and does not reflect local expenditure on food, as that information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Fuel Poverty

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent tackling fuel poverty in each the last 10 years; and how much it expects to spend in the next 12 months.

Mike O'Brien: The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for paying winter fuel payments and cold weather payments which help to improve incomes and in turn help to take people out of fuel poverty.
	The available expenditure on winter fuel payments and cold weather payments is shown in the following tables, in nominal and real terms.
	
		
			  Great Britain, nominal terms 
			  £ million 
			  Status  Winter fuel payments, including over 80 payments  Cold weather payments 
			  Outturn   
			 1998-99 194 0.2 
			 1999-2000 759 1.0 
			 2000-01 1,749 30.0 
			 2001-02 1,681 15.3 
			 2002-03 1,705 14.2 
			 2003-04 1,916 3.5 
			 2004-05 1,962 1.8 
			 2005-06 1,982 8.4 
			 2006-07 2,015 3.4 
			
			  Provisional outturn   
			 2007-08 2,061 4.0 
			
			  Plans   
			 2008-09 2,664 — 
		
	
	
		
			  Great Britain, 2008-09 prices 
			  £ million 
			  Status  Winter fuel payments, including over 80 payments  Cold weather payments 
			  Outturn   
			 1998-99 251 0.3 
			 1999-2000 961 1.3 
			 2000-01 2,182 37.4 
			 2001-02 2,047 18.6 
			 2002-03 2,014 16.8 
			 2003-04 2,199 4.0 
			 2004-05 2,192 2.0 
			 2005-06 2,168 9.2 
			 2006-07 2,143 3.6 
			
			  Provisional outturn   
			 2007-08 2,123 4.1 
			  Plans   
			 2008-09 2,664 — 
			  Notes: 1. All figures are consistent with Budget 2008, as well as expenditure information published on the internet at: www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp 2. Winter fuel payments are rounded to the nearest million pounds, but cold weather payments have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand pounds. 3. The winter fuel payment was introduced in 1997. Annual payments are made to most people aged 60 or over. The current rate is £200 per household with someone eligible and aged between 60 and 79 and £300 per household containing someone eligible and aged 80 or over. At present over 8 million households benefit each year. 4. From 2000-01, winter fuel payments were extended to include people aged 60 to 64 years and also include the over 80 payments. 5. Winter fuel payment expenditure is forecast to increase significantly in 2008-09 following the announcement at Budget 2008 of an additional payment for winter 2008-09 of £50 for eligible households with someone aged between 60 and 79 and £100 for households with someone aged 80 or over. 6. Customers eligible for cold weather payments are those awarded pension credit or those awarded income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance who have a pensioner or disability premium or have a child who is disabled or under the age of five. Following the introduction of employment and support allowance in October of this year eligible customers will also include those in receipt of income related employment and support allowance that includes a work or support component, any disability premium, or who have a child who is disabled or under the age of five. A payment is made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to the eligible customer's postcode. 7. Up to and including the winter of 2007-08, a cold weather payment was £8.50 for each week of very cold weather. The Prime Minister has announced that for the winter 2008-09 a cold weather payment will be increased to £25 for each week of very cold weather. 8. Cold weather payment expenditure for 2008-09 cannot be forecast because the number of payments will be dependent on the severity of the winter. However, a notional figure of £24 million is included in the forecasts for the Social Fund, provided to HM Treasury.  Source: Departmental Accounting and statistical data

Health and Safety Executive: Inspections

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Health and Safety Executive inspectors he expects to  (a) retire,  (b) leave the service and  (c) join the service in (i) 2008, (ii) 2009 and (iii) 2010.

Anne McGuire: Recent trends and the age profile of inspectors indicate that about 70 inspectors will retire and another 60 inspectors will leave for other reasons each year. The HSE is committed to having not less than 1,283 inspectors in 2008-09 to 2010-11 but this is not a ceiling. The precise numbers who join in each of these years will vary with individual recruitment campaigns.

Health and Safety Executive: Manpower

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff worked for the Health and Safety Executive  (a) at the most recent date for which figures are available and  (b) in 1997.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 21 July 2008
	 The number of staff working for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) at 1 May 2008, including those employed by the Health and Safety Laboratory was 3,583 full-time equivalent staff (FTEs). On 1 April 1997, the figure was 4,077 FTEs. These figures are not, however, comparable as the functions of HSE have changed over the period.

Housing Benefit

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how much of the money allocated to each local authority to pay discretionary housing payments was unspent in each year since it was introduced; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how the amount allocated to each local authority for the payment of discretionary housing payments is calculated; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how much his Department allocated to each local authority for the payment of discretionary housing payments in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The discretionary housing payment fund is allocated to each local authority based on the mid-point between the amount they were allocated and the amount they actually spent in the previous full financial year (e.g. the 2008-09 allocation was calculated using 2006-07 data, as those were the most recent full financial year data that were available at the time of calculation).
	Any remaining funding is then distributed across local authorities based on their annually managed expenditure, and their average rent restrictions. 50 per cent. of the remaining funding is allocated based on each local authority's proportion of overall annually managed expenditure, and the remaining 50 per cent. of the funding is allocated based on each local authority's average rent restrictions.
	The available information on the amount of money allocated to each local authority for discretionary housing payments and the amount of such payments unspent for each local authority has been placed in the Library.

Housing Benefit: Antisocial Behaviour

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each of the eight housing benefit anti-social behaviour local authority pilot areas have  (a) received written warnings of housing benefit sanctions and  (b) had their housing benefit withdrawn because of anti-social behaviour.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 17 September 2008
	At present no one has had their housing benefit withdrawn as a result of this pilot. Some of the pilot areas have identified cases where possession orders have been sought on the grounds of anti social behaviour and some have introduced details about the sanction into their literature and warning letters.

Incapacity Benefit

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants he expects there to be on incapacity benefit in each of the next five years, broken down by type of incapacity benefit.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 9 June 2008
	 The latest available information is in the following table. The figures assume the introduction of employment and support allowance in October 2008 and announced policies at the time forecasts were produced—they do not include future proposals yet to be agreed; The figures cover the period of the Government's spending plans to 2010-11.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefits: Estimated benefit case loads 
			  Thousand 
			   2007-08 estimated outturn  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 Incapacity Benefit 2,400 2,220 1,930 1,670 
			  O f which: 
			 Short-Term Lower rate 90 50 0 0 
			 Short-Term Higher rate 90 70 10 0 
			 Long-Term Ordinary rate 910 890 850 730 
			 Ex-Invalidity Benefit 320 280 260 230 
			 Credits only 1,000 940 820 710 
			  
			 Severe Disablement Allowance 220 200 190 180 
			  Notes: 1. Figures aggregated with the Employment and Support Allowance are also available on the DWP website through the following link: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp 2. Incapacity benefits claimants can receive short-term lower, short-term higher, long-term ordinary rates and credits only. Cases who were claimants of Invalidity Benefit, the predecessor to Incapacity Benefit, are also separately identified in the table. 3. Figures for Severe Disablement Allowance are also included in the table. This benefit was closed to new claimants in April 2001.  4. Claimants of Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance may also receive Income Support: figures for Income Support claimants are not shown in the table to avoid double-counting.  5. Incapacity Benefit is replaced for new claimants by Employment and Support Allowance in October 2008.  6. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding.  7. All figures relate to individuals of working age.

Incapacity Benefit

Alan Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of the working-age population in each parliamentary constituency received incapacity benefit in each of the last five years.

Anne McGuire: The available information has been placed in the Library.

Incapacity Benefit

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of incapacity benefits are aged 60 years and over in each parliamentary constituency.

Anne McGuire: The available information has been placed in the Library.

Incapacity Benefit

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of regulation of private sector contracted welfare services for incapacity benefit claimants at a typical investment rate of £62,000 per claimant.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available.

Incapacity Benefit: Wakefield

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children in  (a) Hemsworth constituency and  (b) Wakefield district are dependent on parents or guardians whose main income source is incapacity benefit.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of children aged 0-15 dependent on a parent/guardian claiming one or more of incapacity benefit or severe disablement:  April 2007 
			   Number of children 
			 Hemsworth parliamentary constituency 1,365 
			 Wakefield local authority 4,025 
			  Notes: 1. Data represent a snapshot in time of claimants on the computer system, and therefore excludes a very small number of cases that are held clerically.  2. The Department does not hold complete information on child dependents on its benefit computer systems and, therefore, children have been merged onto incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claims from child benefit records with permission from HMRC.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate

Income Support

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants he expects there to be of income support in each of the next five years, broken down by type of income support.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 9 June 2008
	 The available information is in the table. The information is available for the period up to the end of the Government's spending plans, 2010-11.
	
		
			  Income support: Estimated numbers of claimants 
			  Thousand 
			   2007-08( 1)  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 Income support 2,120 2,050 1,730 1,510 
			  O f which: 
			 Sick or disabled 1,250 1,200 990 860 
			 Lone parents 760 730 610 520 
			 Others 120 120 130 130 
			 (1) Estimated outturn  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000. Components may not sum due to rounding. 2. Income support on the grounds of incapacity will no longer be payable to new claimants after the introduction of employment and support allowance in October 2008. 3. Figures for 'Others' include income support for carers, pregnant women and ex-minimum income guarantee claimants. 4. Figures are consistent with benefit expenditure tables available on the DWP website through the following link: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp

Income Support

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much families with a child  (a) claiming and  (b) not claiming disability living allowance received on average in (i) income support and (ii) housing benefit in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available.

Income Support: Disabled

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new claims for income support on the grounds of incapacity for work for which the claimant qualified for the disability premium from the start of the claim were awarded to  (a) single persons aged under 35,  (b) single persons aged 35 to 44,  (c) single persons aged 35 to 65,  (d) couples with claimant aged under 35,  (e) couples with claimant aged 35 to 44 and  (f) couples with claimant aged 35 to 65 years in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 10 September 2008
	The information requested would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Income Support: Lone Parents

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents whose youngest child is aged 11 years or over are in receipt of income support, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Stephen Timms: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Industrial Health and Safety: Construction

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to increase the number of Health and Safety Executive inspectors covering the construction industry.

Anne McGuire: I have asked the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to maintain the number of inspectors including those covering the construction industry at not less than 1,283, taking account of the fluctuations as retirements and natural turnover occur. The precise number of inspectors for construction is being kept under review.
	HSE can act as a stimulus—promoting best practice, influencing major contractors, architects and designers, and inspecting, investigating and, where necessary, enforcing the law on site. The main responsibility, however, for bringing about improvements in health and safety within the construction industry lies with the industry itself.

Jobcentre Plus: Security Guards

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 21 April 2008,  Official Report, column 1842W, on Jobcentre Plus: security guards, if he will place in the Library a copy of the objectives and job description of  (a) security guards and  (b) customer care officers.

Stephen Timms: Copies of the objectives and job descriptions of security guards and customer care officers have been placed in the Library.

Lone Parents: Income Support

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of lone parent families he estimates will be affected by the changes to the eligibility criteria for income support taking effect in  (a) October 2008,  (b) October 2009 and (c) October 2010 are living on less than 60 per cent. of median income in each region; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is not available broken down by region.

Low Incomes: Children

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the median income was in each region in the UK in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the number of children who lived in households with incomes of less than  (a) 60 per cent. and  (b) 40 per cent. of the regional median, in each region, during that period.

Stephen Timms: Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in "Households Below Average Income 1994/95 to 2006/07". This annual report, which is a National Statistics publication, includes the numbers and proportions of individuals, children, working age adults and pensioners with incomes below 50 per cent. 60 per cent. and 70 per cent. of the national median income, and the proportions in persistent poverty.
	Information covering 40 per cent. of median income is not presented in the Households Below Average Income series as it is an unreliable measure of poverty. Households stating the lowest incomes to the Family Resources Survey may not actually have the lowest living standards. Many people who report very low incomes appear to have high spending. Hence any statistics on numbers in this group may be misleading.
	The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Median income in each region in the UK for the  years 2004-05 to 2006-07 
			  £ per week equivalised 
			  Region  Before Housing Costs  After Housing Costs 
			 North East 338 291 
			 North West 350 301 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 349 299 
			 East Midlands 356 310 
			 West Midlands 343 293 
			 East of England 401 340 
			 London 421 335 
			 South East 435 361 
			 South West 378 323 
			 Scotland 371 323 
			 Wales 346 304 
			 Northern Ireland 342 302 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of children below 60 per cent .  of each regional median income in the UK for the years 2004-05 to 2006-07 
			  Million 
			  Region  Before Housing Costs  After Housing Costs 
			 North East 0.1 0.1 
			 North West 0.3 0.4 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 0.2 0.3 
			 East Midlands 0.2 0.2 
			 West Midlands 0.2 0.3 
			 East of England 0.2 0.3 
			 London 0.5 0.7 
			 South East 0.4 0.6 
			 South West 0.2 0.3 
			 Scotland 0.2 0.3 
			 Wales 0.1 0.2 
			 Northern Ireland 0.1 0.1 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of children below 40 per cent. of each regional median income in the UK for the years 2004-05 to 2006-07 
			  Million 
			  Region  Before Housing Costs  After Housing Costs 
			 North East — — 
			 North West 0.1 0.1 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber — 0.1 
			 East Midlands — 0.1 
			 West Midlands 0.1 0.1 
			 East of England 0.1 0.1 
			 London 0.2 0.3 
			 South East 0.1 0.2 
			 South West 0.1 0.1 
			 Scotland — 0.1 
			 Wales — 0.1 
			 Northern Ireland — — 
			 Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income data. 2. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. '—' denotes less than 50,000 children. 4. The reference period for Households Below Average Income figures is single financial years. Three sample years have been combined as regional single year estimates are subject to volatility. 5. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or "equivalised") for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 6. The figures are based on OECD equivalisation factors. 7. Regional median incomes are presented in 2006-07 prices.  8. Figures have been presented on both a Before Housing Cost and After Housing Cost basis. For Before Housing Cost, housing costs (such as rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, structural insurance payments and ground rent and service charges) are not deducted from income, while for After Housing Cost they are. 9. This response includes a lower income threshold of 40 per cent. of the contemporary median income. The data for households with an income lower than 50 per cent. of median are not considered to be accurate as an indicator of living standards. Many of these households whilst having very low incomes would not be considered poor, but do genuinely have few sources of income in the short-run. These figures are not National Statistics and caution must be applied because those people stating the lowest incomes in the Family Resources Survey may not actually have the lowest living standards. 10. Regional median incomes have been rounded to the nearest pound sterling, while numbers of children in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 children.

Maternity Benefits

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons maternity allowance work has been centralised into four benefit delivery centres.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 15 September 2008
	 The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the reasons that Maternity Allowance work has been centralised into four Benefit Delivery Centres. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The decision to centralise Maternity Allowance (MA) formed part of the wider agenda to centralise processing of all benefits in order to improve their delivery and realise efficiencies.
	For the benefits with larger caseloads, Incapacity Benefit, Jobseeker's Allowance, and Income Support, it was possible to centralise this work in 78 sites across Great Britain. But because of smaller number of recipients we needed fewer sites if the benefits of economies of scale and consistency were to be realised in the centralisation of MA. We also decided that in order to avoid the need for redundancies we would use the centralisation of MA and other benefits to locate work in potential redundancy hotspots.
	This resulted in the centralisation of MA into the four Benefit Delivery Centres of Yeovil, Wrexham, Hanley and Bury St Edmunds in the spring.
	I hope this is helpful.

National Insurance

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 9 May 2008,  Official Report, column 44WS, on national insurance numbers, what estimate he has made of  (a) the number of national insurance numbers held by partners of legitimate benefit claimants who do not have a right to be in the UK and  (b) how many such partners have obtained benefits themselves; and what steps he is taking to revoke the national insurance numbers held by such partners.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 16 May 2008
	 The information needed to make an estimate of the number of national insurance numbers held by partners of legitimate benefit claimants who do not have a right to be in the UK is not available.
	The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 excludes persons subject to immigration control from income-related and other non-contributory social security benefits. Foreign nationals who do not have a right to be in the UK are subject to immigration control and therefore do not qualify for those benefits in their own right.
	A national insurance number does not itself confer any rights to benefits or access to services and the current practice is for a national insurance number, once allocated, not to be revoked except in specified circumstances.

National Insurance

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance numbers were incorrectly issued in each of the last 10 years.

James Plaskitt: The Department undertakes rigorous checks on the identity of all adult national insurance number applicants and only when it is satisfied with the identity of an individual will a number be allocated.
	There are limited occasions where it is identified that an individual has been issued two national insurance numbers. In this situation one of the numbers will be cancelled.
	Figures are only available from 2001.
	
		
			  Occasions when an individual has initially been issued more than one national insurance number 
			   Number of cases 
			 2001 586 
			 2002 447 
			 2003 303 
			 2004 513 
			 2005 497 
			 2006 534 
			 2007 1,517 
			 2008 (part) 324 
			  Notes: 1. Source data is Management Information. 2. Figures relate to calendar years. 3. Figures for 2008 relate to the period 1 January to 30 June 2008. 4. Figures relate to the year the NINO was cancelled from the DWP IT records. 5. The figure for 2007 is disproportionately high as it reflects an IT problem which occurred during the transfer of NINO accounts from the former Departmental Central Index (DCI) to the improved Customer Information System (CIS). The problem was immediately rectified. The figure for 2007 (excluding these IT problem cases) is 562. 
		
	
	As mentioned in PQ/08/206330, we also identified earlier this year as part of the Security Industry Authority NINO checks that a small number of NINOs (25) had been incorrectly issued to individuals who did not have the right to work. However, this was due to a temporary misunderstanding and quickly rectified.

New Deal for Disabled People

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been enrolled on the New Deal for Disabled People since its inception  (a) nationally and  (b) in West Lancashire.

Stephen Timms: Since the inception of new deal for disabled people in July 2001, 293,770 individuals have started it nationally and 550 people have started it in West Lancashire parliamentary constituency.
	 Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. The latest data are to February 2008.
	 Source:
	Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate.

New Deal for Lone Parents

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to develop skills training for parents participating in the New Deal for Lone Parents; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: Lone parents who participate in new deal for lone parents can voluntarily access work-related training which is tailored to their individual requirements and takes into account their previous experiences, skills and the type of work they are looking for.
	In our Green Paper "No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility" (Cm 7363), published on 21 July 2008, we set out options to support more lone parents to develop their skills and move into employment. These included requiring lone parents to take part in a skills health check when their youngest child turns five, pilots to evaluate mandating them to relevant skills training to address any identified skills gaps as well as encouraging lone parents with younger children to voluntarily develop the skills they need to find work.
	From late 2010, lone parents with a youngest child aged seven or more will no longer be eligible for income support. They will instead be able to apply for jobseeker's allowance (JSA) or employment and support allowance if they have a disability or health condition. Those who receive JSA for six months or more will be able to take part in full-time employment-related training for up to eight weeks while receiving a training allowance. Lone parents will still be able to access new deal for lone parents for the first 12 months of their JSA claim.

New Deal Schemes

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 24 April 2007,  Official Report, columns 1095-6W, on New Deal schemes, if he will provide equivalent figures for  (a) the New Deal for Disabled People and  (b) each other New Deal programme for each month since August 2006.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 25 June 2008
	Since its launch in 1998 the New Deal has led a major transformation in employment support for people in Britain. Since its introduction New Deal has helped 1.97 million people into work. Benefit recipients participating in New Deal more than once are more likely to enter employment from their second spell on the programme than their first, and from their third spell than their second. Each period on New Deal moves participants closer to the labour market.
	Information on the number of current participants on New Deal 50 plus and New Deal for Disabled People is not currently available. These statistics have been suspended while a review of the method for compiling current participant figures is carried out.
	Current participant figures for New Deal for Lone Parents are available to March 2007. Figures for the period from April 2007 are not currently available as a result of the identification of a problem with the data which are used to compile the statistics. Figures for the period after April 2007 will be released as soon as possible.
	The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  New Deal Participants (individuals)( 1) 
			  Month  New Deal for Young People  New Deal 25 Plus  New Deal for Lone Parents( 2)  New Deal for Partners 
			 2006 
			 August 98,940 51,630 54,800 3,130 
			 September 94,350 52,090 54,910 3,180 
			 October 91,410 53,370 54,450 3,240 
			 November 89,410 54,780 53,970 3,290 
			 December 90,240 57,170 51,450 3,360 
			 2007 
			 January 93,070 58,340 54,360 3,430 
			 February 92,670 59,390 59,160 3,540 
			 March 93,580 59,860 61,960 3,670 
			 April 91,870 60,120 n/a 3,710 
			 May 90,500 60,520 n/a 3,740 
			 June 86,330 61,260 n/a 3,780 
			 July 87,100 61,880 n/a 3,850 
			 August 84,010 62,960 n/a 3,860 
			 September 77,650 63,250 n/a 3,910 
			 October 73,040 63,930 n/a 3,930 
			 November 69,290 64,810 n/a 3,990 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) Latest data are to November 2007. (2) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source:  Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions. 
		
	
	
		
			  New Deal 
			   Number of participants who have participated more than once  Number of participants who have gained a job( 1) 
			 New Deal For Young people 369,990 806,490 
			 New Deal 25 Plus 224,610 323,330 
			 New Deal For Lone Parents 236,180(2) 554,300 
			 New Deal For Disabled People(3) 33,780 172,460 
			 New Deal 50 Plus(4) 2,860 83,100 
			 New Deal For Partners(5) 170 5,070 
			 (1) Latest information on number of individuals who have gained a job is up to November 2007. (2) Latest data are to February 2008, except for New Deal for Lone Parents number of participants to participate more than once where information is as of March 2007. (3) Information for New Deal for Disabled People on number of times a person participates and number of individuals who have gained a job is available from July 2001. (4) Information for New Deal 50 Plus on number of times a person participates is available from January 2004; number of individuals who have gained a job is available from April 2003. (5) Information for New Deal for Partners on number of times a person participates and number of individuals who have gained a job is available from April 2004.  Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source:  Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions.

New Deal Schemes

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 25 June 2007,  Official Report, columns 484-88W, on the New Deal for Young People, if he will provide equivalent figures for  (a) the New Deal for Young People and  (b) each other New Deal programme for each month since November 2006.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 25 June 2008
	People entering new deal for young people receive intensive help to support them into work. The new deal has been successful in placing jobseekers into sustainable work, with around 80 per cent. of employment outcomes being into jobs lasting 13 weeks or more. The flexible new deal will build on this success.
	The Department will be basing its payment strategy increasingly on sustainable job outcomes; six months in the first instance, but as the Government move towards an integrated employment and skills progression model, it will look to build longer-term incentives into the welfare and skills systems.
	Information on the number of people who move into sustained employment is only collected for new deal for young people, new deal 25-plus and new deal for lone parents. The available information has been placed in the Library.

Pension Credit

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Pension Credit rules concerning service charges for people living in sheltered and extra care sheltered housing are  (a) understood by staff at the Pension Service and  (b) available to the public.

Mike O'Brien: Any action concerning service charges entitlement or providing additional advice and guidance for people living in sheltered and extra care sheltered housing is a function of specially trained staff based in every pension centre.
	There is a checking regime in place designed to identify any procedural errors.
	All rules and regulations are published and held in the public domain and can be accessed via the links provided as follows:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/dmg/pdf/ch78.pdf
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/dmg/memletrs/memspc53.pdf

Pensioners: Poverty

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of pensioner households living in poverty  (a) before housing costs and  (b) after housing costs in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (i) region, (ii) local authority and (iii) constituency.

Mike O'Brien: Specific information regarding low income for the United Kingdom is available in "Households Below Average Income 1994/95-2005/06".
	The data source does not allow us to provide robust numbers for estimates below the level of Government office region. Information on the numbers and percentages of pensioners below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income is set out in the following tables.
	
		
			  P ensioners living in households with less than 60 per cent .  of contemporary median household inc ome, by region or country: 1995-96 to 2005- 06, three-year averages 
			  Number ( m illion ) 
			   1995-96  to 1997-98  1996-97 to 1998-99  1997-98 to 1999-2000  1998-99 to 2000-01  1999-2000 to 2001-02  2000-01 to 2002-03  2001-02 to 2003-04  2002-03 to 2004-05  2003-04 to 2005-06 
			  Before housing costs  
			 North East 0.12 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.13 0.12 0.11 0.10 0.09 
			 North West 0.30 0.32 0.32 0.31 0.30 0.30 0.31 0.30 0.29 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 0.25 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.24 0.24 0.22 0.21 0.20 
			 East Midlands 0.20 0.22 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.22 0.21 0.20 
			 West Midlands 0.24 0.25 0.24 0.24 0.25 0.26 0.26 0.25 0.24 
			 East of England 0.22 0.24 0.24 0.25 0.24 0.24 0.23 0.22 0.20 
			 London 0.20 0.21 0.21 0.20 0.21 0.21 0.21 0.20 0.19 
			 South East 0.29 0.30 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.30 0.28 
			 South West 0.25 0.26 0.26 0.25 0.25 0.26 0.25 0.22 0.21 
			   
			 Wales 0.14 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.14 
			 Scotland 0.24 0.23 0.22 0.23 0.21 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.19 
			 Northern Ireland (1)— (1)— (1)— 0.08 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 
			   
			  After housing costs  
			 North East 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.14 0.13 0.13 0.11 0.09 0.08 
			 North West 0.33 0.35 0.33 0.32 0.31 0.30 0.29 0.26 0.24 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 0.27 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.23 0.21 0.18 0.16 
			 East Midlands 0.21 0.22 0.22 0.21 0.21 0.20 0.19 0.17 0.16 
			 West Midlands 0.26 0.27 0.25 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.25 0.22 0.19 
			 East of England 0.26 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.25 0.25 0.24 0.22 0.18 
			 London 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.30 0.30 0.27 0.26 0.23 0.21 
			 South East 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.33 0.32 0.28 0.24 
			 South West 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.25 0.25 0.22 0.20 0.17 
			   
			 Wales 0.15 0.15 0.14 0.13 0.14 0.13 0.12 0.11 0.11 
			 Scotland 0.27 0.26 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.22 0.21 0.19 0.16 
			 Northern Ireland (1)— (1)— (1)— 0.07 0.07 0.06 0.05 0.05 0.05 
			 (1) Not available.  Source: Family Resources Survey 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage of p ensioners living in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income, by region or country: 1995-96 to 2005-06, three-year averages 
			  Percentage 
			   1995-96 to 1997-98  1996-97 to 1998-99  1997-98 to 1999-2000  1998-99 to 2000-01  1999-2000 to 2001-02  2000-01 to 2002-03  2001-02 to 2003-04  2002-03 to 2004-05  2003-04 to 2005-06 
			  Before housing costs  
			 North East 26 26 28 30 28 26 23 22 20 
			 North West 25 27 27 26 25 25 25 24 24 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 28 30 30 29 28 27 25 24 22 
			 East Midlands 28 30 31 31 31 30 29 27 26 
			 West Midlands 26 27 26 26 26 27 27 26 25 
			 East of England 23 25 26 26 25 25 24 22 20 
			 London 20 20 21 20 21 20 21 20 20 
			 South East 20 21 22 22 22 22 21 20 19 
			 South West 26 26 27 25 25 25 25 22 20 
			   
			 Wales 26 26 26 26 26 25 26 24 25 
			 Scotland 27 27 25 26 24 23 22 22 21 
			 Northern Ireland (1)— (1)— (1)— 30 30 28 26 25 27 
			   
			  After housing costs  
			 North East 33 32 31 31 28 27 23 20 17 
			 North West 28 29 28 27 25 25 24 21 19 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 31 32 32 31 29 26 24 20 17 
			 East Midlands 29 30 30 29 28 27 25 22 21 
			 West Midlands 28 29 28 28 27 28 26 23 20 
			 East of England 28 29 28 28 26 25 24 21 18 
			 London 31 31 32 30 30 27 26 23 21 
			 South East 26 26 26 24 24 23 22 19 16 
			 South West 29 28 28 26 25 24 22 19 16 
			   
			 Wales 27 26 26 24 24 23 22 20 20 
			 Scotland 31 29 28 27 26 25 23 21 18 
			 Northern Ireland (1)— (1)— (1)— 27 26 23 21 20 19 
			 (1) Not available.  Notes:  1. Three-survey year averages are given for each of the regions as robust single-year estimates cannot be produced because of the sample sizes for individual regions.  2. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication "Households Below Average Income" (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or "equivalised") for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living.  3. The figures are based on OECD equivalisation factors.  4. Figures are based on survey data and as such are subject to a degree of sampling and non-sampling error.  5. The government's preferred measures of low income for pensioners are based on incomes measured after housing costs. As part of PSA Delivery Agreement 17 three indicators of low income poverty will be monitored: the percentage of pensioners below 60 per cent. contemporary median income, 50 per cent. median income and 60 per cent. of 1998-99 median income uprated in line with prices.   Source:  Family Resources Survey

Pensioners: Poverty

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to reduce levels of poverty in persons aged over 65 years; what research has been  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated by his Department on the causes of poverty in persons aged over 65 years in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 10 September 2008
	In 1997 the poorest pensioners lived on £68.80. Today no pensioner need live on less than £124.05. The Government have introduced a number of measures to reduce the levels of poverty in older people. The number of pensioners in poverty in the UK has fallen from 2.9 million in 1998-99 to 2.1 million in 2006-07 (as measured by 60 per cent. of contemporary median income after housing costs). Once housing costs are accounted for, pensioners are less likely to be in poverty than the population as a whole.
	Measures taken include the introduction of the minimum income guarantee and its successor pension credit. The value of the safety-net we provide for the poorest pensioners has increased by over a third in real terms since 1997. We have successively raised the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit by earnings in every year since its introduction. Our commitments in the Pensions Act 2007 to continue to uprate the pension credit standard minimum guarantee in line with earnings over the long term, and to reintroduce the earnings link to basic state pension from 2012, or by the end of the next parliament, will help secure these gains into the future.
	In addition we have introduced winter fuel payments for those aged 60 or over, with a higher amount for those 80 or over. For winter 2008-09 we will make an additional payment of £50 for households with someone aged 60-79 and £100 for those with someone aged 80 or over. We have also introduced free television licences for people aged 75 or over and made above inflation increases in the basic state pension.
	The Department for Work and Pensions has undertaken a range of research over the last five years to investigate the nature of poverty in older people. For example, research has been commissioned to better understand older people's experiences of poverty and the link between income poverty, deprivation and age. In working to ensure all pensioners take up their entitlements to pension credit, the Department has also undertaken research to explore the barriers and triggers to claiming pension credit.

Pensioners: Social Security Benefits

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate the Department has made of the average amount unclaimed by single pensioners aged 75 to 85 years old who are entitled to, but not claiming  (a) guarantee credit and council tax benefit,  (b) guarantee credit and housing benefit/local housing allowance and  (c) guarantee credit, housing benefit/local housing allowance and council tax benefit, broken down by sex in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the average amount unclaimed by single pensioners aged 85 years or over of each sex entitled to but not claiming  (a) guarantee credit and council tax benefit,  (b) guarantee credit and housing benefit or local housing allowance and  (c) guarantee credit, housing benefit or local housing allowance and council tax benefit in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 326-27W.

Post Office Card Account

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made in the decision-making process for the selection of an operator for the Post Office card account; and if he will make a statement.

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to announce the result of the award of the contract for the Post Office Card Account for 2010 onwards.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The contracting process remains under way. An announcement of the outcome will be made as soon as possible.

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department and its agencies have given to local authorities on the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 for tackling benefit fraud.

James Plaskitt: Specific guidance in the form of a fraud guidance circular was first issued to local authorities in September 2000, when the Act came into force. It has since been updated twice with further fraud guidance circulars issued in 2001 and 2003.
	The Department's own Fraud Procedures and Instructions manual now has a specific section that details how both Department for Work and Pensions and local authority benefit fraud investigators should use the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. This guidance is made available for all local authority benefit fraud investigators through a secure website on the National Anti-Fraud Network.

Remploy

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of former Remploy workers who have found alternative employment.

Anne McGuire: Remploy has advised that of the 241 employees who opted to remain with Remploy, 161 are in work placements. The remaining 80 employees are involved in pre-employment activities, for example job search and preparation.
	A further 1,772 employees opted to take voluntary redundancy or early retirement with a voluntary redundancy payment. Remploy is aware that around 200 have found alternative work, and is currently working with a further 360 former employees to find alternative work. The remainder have either advised the company that they do not require assistance from the company to seek further work or have not yet responded to Remploy's offers of help.

Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2008

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to publish the Social Security Advisory Committee's report on the proposals contained in the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2008 relating to the backdating period for pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit claimants; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The Social Security Advisory Committee's report on the proposals contained in the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2008 and the Secretary of State's response to the report were published as a Command Paper on 15 September 2008 and laid in Parliament, along with the Regulations, on that date.

Social Security Benefits

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to reduce by at least half the time it takes benefits offices to deal with a reconsideration request; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: There are no plans to specifically reduce the time taken to deal with reconsideration requests. By their very nature, reconsiderations may take some time, particularly where further evidence requires investigation or corroboration. We believe the present arrangements strike a fair balance between speed and accuracy.

Social Security Benefits

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many complaints his Department has received in respect of the Belfast benefit delivery centre in the last 12 months, broken down by category of complaint;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to improve communications between the Belfast benefit delivery centre and  (a) members of the public and  (b) local Jobcentre Plus branches.

Stephen Timms: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 20 September 2008:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking how many complaints his department has received in respect of Belfast Benefit Delivery Centre in the last 12 months, broken down into category and what steps he is taking to improve communications between the Belfast Benefit Delivery Centre and (a) members of the public (b) local Jobcentre Plus branches. This is something that falls within responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	In total, 472 complaints were received in respect of Belfast Benefit Delivery Centre (BDC) in the last 12 months. They are broken down by category in the following table:
	
		
			  Type of complaint  Number received 
			 General benefit queries 7 
			 Customer service 9 
			 Data protection 2 
			 Incapacity benefit 73 
			 Income support 172 
			 Information and advice 8 
			 Jobseeker's allowance 196 
			 Maternity allowance 1 
			 Telephony 4 
		
	
	Jobcentre Plus recognises the importance of good communications between the various parts of its business in providing a good service to its customers. Consequently we are always looking for new ways to improve communications, both internally and with members of the public.
	For example, Belfast BDC has introduced the following improvements:
	customers can now contact the centre by email via the Jobcentre Plus website;
	an improved telephony system goes live on 19 August which it is hoped will improve communication with our customers;
	post room procedures are being reviewed in an effort to speed up the process of post reaching its destination;
	members of the public are informed of our services through our website, leaflets, telephone and by face to face contact; and
	regular meetings are held between Belfast BDC and the jobcentres it serves to discuss ways in which to improve the service delivered to our customers.
	Feedback from these meetings is cascaded to all staff to raise awareness of any issues.

Social Security Benefits

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children lived in households that had been in receipt of  (a) jobseeker's allowance,  (b) incapacity benefit and  (c) income support for more than two years at the latest date for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The requested information is not available.

Social Security Benefits

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of work-focused interviews which will be conducted in  (a) 2009,  (b) 2010,  (c) 2011,  (d) 2012 and  (e) 2013, broken down by benefit sought.

Stephen Timms: No such estimate has been made.

Social Security Benefits: Cost of Living

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of increases in the cost of living on people on benefits.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 10 September 2008
	There is a statutory requirement to review all social security benefits each year and to increase certain benefits from April each year. The increase applied to most contributory and non-contributory benefits is calculated using the increase in the Retail Prices Index for the 12 months ending in the preceding September. This ensures that benefits keep their value in broad terms.
	The inflation figures are based on a year-on-year comparison of prices. Therefore any recent fluctuations in inflation will be taken into account in the benefit increases that will take effect from the following April.
	In addition to the annual uprating, the Chancellor also announced in his Budget 2008 speech that for winter 2008-09 an additional payment will be made alongside the winter fuel payment. Households with someone aged 60 to 79 will receive an additional £50 and households with someone aged 80 or over will receive an additional £100.
	On 11 September 2008, the Government also announced a new £1 billion package of measures to help people cut their energy bills. Measures on offer deliver significant energy savings—e.g. cavity wall and loft insulation—and 11 million lower income and pensioner households are eligible for these free of charge. Also for winter 2008-09 cold weather payments will increase in value from £8.50 to £25.00. Cold weather payments are made to vulnerable people in receipt of qualifying benefits, including pension credit, if there is a period of very cold weather in their area.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of people who committed benefit fraud in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of  (a) the value of benefit fraud and  (b) the amount recoverable from such fraud in each of the last 10 years;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of  (a) the number of people involved in benefit fraud and  (b) the value of such fraud in each (i) region, (ii) local authority and (iii) constituency in the latest period for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: While the Department produces estimates of the amount of money lost through fraud, estimates are not available as to how many individuals might commit benefit fraud in any given period.
	The following table shows the Department's estimates of fraud across all benefits. This information is not available broken down by region, local authority and constituency.
	
		
			  Global estimate of fraud across all benefits 
			   Value of benefit fraud (£ billion) 
			 2000-01 2.2 
			 2001-02 2.0 
			 2002-03 2.0 
			 2003-04 1.0 
			 2004-05 0.9 
			 2005-06 0.8 
			 2006-07 0.8 
			  Notes: 1. Comparable information is not available prior to 2000-01 2. There have been methodological changes, and new measurement exercises at various times. 
		
	
	In order for an overpayment to be recoverable it must be demonstrated that the customer failed to report a material fact. This means that all overpayments resulting from fraud are recoverable.
	The following table shows the amount of recoverable overpayments identified during fraud investigations since 1997-98. However, it should be noted that the information provided does not include fraud overpayments for local authority administered benefits, for which information is not available.
	
		
			  Amount of recoverable fraud overpayments in DWP administered benefits 
			   £ million 
			 1997-98 129 
			 1998-99 149 
			 1999-2000 105 
			 2000-01 128 
			 2001-02 123 
			 2002-03 124 
			 2003-04 134 
			 2004-05 137 
			 2005-06 144 
			 2006-07 106 
			  Note: Figures rounded to the nearest £1 million.  Source:  Fraud information by Sector. 
		
	
	The reduction in the amount recorded as recovered in 2006-07 was largely as a result of the introduction of customer compliance in April 2006. Customer compliance deals with low level fraud and customer error allowing the criminal compliance teams to focus on the more serious and complex fraud cases which are likely to result in a criminal sanction. The focus of customer compliance on low level fraud allows for earlier intervention resulting in a shorter period of overpayment and smaller cash value.

Social Security Benefits: Pensioners

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on each state benefit for pensioners in  (a) Scotland and  (b) England in the last year for which figures are available; and how much was spent on average per pensioner in each year.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Benefits paid to pensioners in Scotland and in England in 2006-07 
			  £ million, nominal 
			   Scotland  England 
			 State Pension 4,837 46,023 
			 Pension Credit 686 5,771 
			 Housing Benefit 452 4,093 
			 Attendance Allowance 398 3,429 
			 Disability Living Allowance 355 2,405 
			 Council Tax Benefit 193 1,649 
			 Winter Fuel Payments 178 1,720 
			 Over 75 TV Licences 41 420 
			 Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit 39 287 
			 Severe Disablement Allowance 15 111 
			 Christmas Bonus 11 103 
			 Bereavement Benefits 11 90 
			 Carer's Allowance 3 103 
			 Total expenditure 7,218 66,135 
			
			 Average per pensioner per year (£) 7,588 7,249 
			  Notes: 1. All figures are consistent with Budget 2008, as well as expenditure information published on the internet at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £ million. 3. Expenditure on State Pension, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Christmas Bonus are defined as benefits paid to women over 60 and men over 65. 4. Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Winter Fuel Payments expenditure refers to benefit units or households where at least one person is aged 60 or over. 5. The average per pensioner is estimated by dividing the total pensioner benefits by the state pension caseload. Those claiming Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit or Winter Fuel Payments between the ages of 60-64 are not included in this caseload, but are included in expenditure. This small inconsistency is unlikely to materially affect the relative spending per head between England and Scotland.  Source: Departmental Accounting and statistical data

Social Security Benefits: Pensioners

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much  (a) single pensioners and  (b) pensioner couples (i) claiming and (ii) not claiming disability living allowance received on average from claims for (A) council tax benefit, (B) housing benefit and (C) pension credits in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is not available in the format requested.

Social Security Benefits: Polygamy

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration has been given to the legality of benefit payments to polygamous families for each additional wife in line with current guidelines from the Department for Work and Pensions on income support.

James Plaskitt: The rules governing entitlement for polygamously married claimants are set out in legislation. The policy governing benefit entitlement for polygamously married claimants has not changed since 1988.

Students: Mentally Ill

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what benefits are available to  (a) undergraduate and  (b) postgraduate students who have been released into the community under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983, have been certified as unfit for work or study for a specified period, and are unable immediately to continue their studies or receive funding contingent on further study; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: There are no benefits specifically aimed at this group of individuals. Entitlement to any benefits will be dependent on the individual's circumstance and their meeting the normal qualifying conditions for the benefit.
	For anybody being provided with care under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1993, entitlement to some benefits will be dependent on the exact nature of the care being provided by the relevant authorities.

Voice Verification

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what pilot schemes on the use of voice recognition technology are  (a) being undertaken and  (b) planned by his Department in Wales;
	(2)  what work is being undertaken through pilot schemes on voice recognition technology to make provision for those who contact his Department in the Welsh language.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 10 July 2008
	Voice recognition technology allows the customer to respond to automated questions to ensure they are correctly routed to the service they require depending on the response.
	We are planning a four-day trial of voice recognition technology (interactive voice response wizard) on an automated line to request claim forms for attendance allowance and disability living allowance later this year. There are currently no plans for any voice recognition technology pilot schemes in Wales.
	For the interactive voice response wizard trial, the automated service will provide the customer with the option to obtain disability living allowance and attendance allowance claim forms in the Welsh language. As the trial is for a very limited period, Welsh speakers who contact the helpline will be routed to an adviser to arrange the issue of the Welsh language claim form.

Welfare to Work

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effects of the economic situation on the  (a) rate of progress in obtaining the goals,  (b) timing of implementation and  (c) costs of his Department's Welfare to Work strategy.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 10 September 2008
	The UK labour market continues to be highly flexible and dynamic with new jobs becoming available all the time. Around 10,000 new vacancies are placed with Jobcentres every day, representing only some of the job opportunities available within the economy. Job-centre Plus receives over 200,000 new Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) claims every month, but the majority of people on JSA leave it within three months, with our active labour market programmes providing effective support to help people back into work.
	We set out the principles underpinning our welfare to work strategy, and our key goals for improving employment opportunities, in "No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility" (Cm 7363, July 2008). We are consulting on these proposals and remain committed to those goals. Details of the measures to be introduced and our plans for their implementation will be published after completion of the consultation period. These will build on the measures we are already implementing such as the employment and support allowance being introduced from this October.
	The Department regularly reviews its financial position as part of the planning process. The effects of the economy on the Department's costs will continue to be considered as part of this.

Winter Fuel Payments

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the level of the winter fuel payment was in  (a) cash terms,  (b) real terms expressed in 2003 prices and  (c) as a percentage of the average energy and gas bill in each year since 2003.

Mike O'Brien: The winter fuel payment is intended to provide a contribution towards winter heating bills which account for around 60 per cent. of the total annual fuel bill. The payment provides a significant contribution to these higher winter costs. Winter fuel payments have increased from £20 in 1997-98 to the current value of £200 for households with someone aged 60 to 79 years of age, and £300 for households with someone aged 80 or over.
	This coming winter an additional payment will be made of £50 for households with someone aged 60-79 and £100 for households with someone aged 80 or over increasing the Winter Fuel Payment to £250 and £400 respectively for winter 2008-09.
	The information requested is in the following table:
	
		
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07( 1)  2007-08  2008-09 
			   WFP  80+  WFP  80+  WFP  80+  WFP  80+  WFP  80+  WFP  80+ 
			 (a) Cash value of WFP (£) 200 300 200 300 200 300 200 300 200 3000 250 400 
			 (b) Real value(2) (£) 200 300 194 291 189 283 182 273 175 262 212 340 
			 (c) (i) WFP as a percentage of average annual energy bill 30 50 30 45 30 40 25 35 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 (c) (ii) WFP as a percentage of average annual gas bill 75 110 70 105 60 95 55 80 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 (1) From 2006, the Family Spending Survey reports on a calendar year basis. 2006 is the latest available data on household energy (including gas) expenditure and is applied here.  (2) 2003-04 prices.   Notes:  1. The real value of the winter fuel payment is calculated by indexing RPI = 100 in 2003-04.  2. The RPI index applied is taken from Table RP02, produced by the Office for National Statistics.  3. The average annual energy and gas bill for all households is estimated using data from the Family Spending Survey, produced by the Office for National Statistics. The average energy bill includes all household expenditure on electricity, gas and 'other fuels'.  4. All percentages rounded to the nearest five per cent.

Xansa

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what contracts his Department has signed with Xansa plc in the last five years;
	(2)  what payments have been made by his Department to Xansa plc in each of the last five years.

Anne McGuire: Although the Department has not awarded contracts direct to Xansa plc in the past five years, it has awarded contracts to Xansa UK Ltd. for external consultancy and IT services and to Xansa Recruitment Ltd. for external interim personnel in the last five years. These two companies are former subsidiaries of Xansa plc. Xansa plc was acquired by Steria in November 2007 and rebranded as Steria in March 2008.
	A summary of payments for the last five years is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Organisation 
			   Xansa UK Ltd.  Xansa Recruitment Ltd. 
			 2003-04 808,794 2,042,507 
			 2004-05 2,413,910 895,328 
			 2005-06 1,913,257 2,412,559 
			 2006-07 3,005,667 2,602,692 
			 2007-08 1,468,001 1,570,353 
		
	
	A summary of contracts signed over the last four years is provided in the following table. Specific details of the contracts with both suppliers for 2003-04 is not available.
	
		
			  Organisation  Contract 
			  2004-05  
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Enterprise Architecture 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Infrastructure Security Specialist 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Accountant 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Programme and Systems Delivery Support 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Change Offices—Finance Transformation Programme stream 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Technology Office 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Project Planner 
			 Xansa UK Ltd. PC OS (XP) Upgrade 
			 Xansa UK Ltd. Work Train Project 
			   
			  2005-06  
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Visual Basic/WEB Programmer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Informatica Specialist 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Informatica Specialist 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Oracle Training Consultants 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Programme and Project Support Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Technical Architect 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Senior Technical Architect 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. SAS Programmer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Oracle Trainer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Oracle Trainer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Oracle Trainer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. SAS Programmer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. CM Senior Commercial Adviser 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Legacy and Service Delivery Analyst 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Senior IT Architect 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Head of Service Delivery Operations 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Service Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Business Catalogue Manager 
			 Xansa UK Ltd. Future Business Re-Engineering 
			   
			  2006-07  
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Senior Instructional Designer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Network Designer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Network Designer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Network Designer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Programme Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Portfolio and Programme Management 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Web Writer/Editor 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. IS Strategy Specialist 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Information Data and Solutions Architect 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Information Data and Solutions Architect 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. RM Implementation Lead 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. IS/IT Service Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Visual Basic WEB Programmer 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Quality Assurance Project Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Performance/Change Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Hosting Mainframe Lead 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Service Transition Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Service Transition Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Service Transition Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Ltd. Service Integration and Management 
			   
			  2007-08  
			 Xansa Recruitment Technical Architect 
			 Xansa Recruitment SAS Contractor 
			 Xansa Recruitment Operations/Service Delivery Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Programme and Project Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment NON DOI Remediation Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Interim Head of Design and Implementation 
			 Xansa Recruitment Strategy and Architecture Contractor 
			 Xansa Recruitment ESA Programme System Tester 
			 Xansa Recruitment System Tester 
			 Xansa Recruitment Project Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Project Planner 
			 Xansa Recruitment Business Analyst—Design and Implementation strand 
			 Xansa Recruitment Programme and Project Manager 
			 Xansa Recruitment Business Analyst—Design and Implementation strand 
			 Xansa UK Ltd. Strategic Assurance

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Departmental Expert Groups

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what expert groups his Department has set up since it was established.

Beverley Hughes: Details of formal, standing bodies set up by Government to provide independent, expert advice to Departments and Ministers are published annually by the Cabinet Office. These bodies, known as advisory non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), are listed in the annual "Public Bodies" publication. "Public Bodies" also contains some details on short-term advisory groups and task forces. Copies of "Public Bodies" from 1999 to 2006 can be viewed and downloaded from:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/public/bodies.asp
	listed under the Department's former name Department for Education and Skills. Copies are also available in the Library for the reference of Members.
	Information on the Department's "Public Bodies" from 2003 to 2008 can be downloaded from:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/
	Copies are also available in the Library for the reference of Members.

Departmental Information Communications Technology

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what information technology projects initiated by his Department and its predecessors have been cancelled prior to completion in the last five years; and what the cost of each such project was to the public purse.

Beverley Hughes: The information requested is not readily available centrally within the Department for Children, Schools and Families. To respond fully would involve an extensive internal information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold.

JUSTICE

Offenders: Armed Forces

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) serving and  (b) former armed forces personnel were (i) given custodial sentences following a plea or a finding of guilty and (ii) given a community penalty by civilian courts in England and Wales in each of last five years for which figures are available.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 17 September 2008
	 I have been asked to reply.
	The following table shows the number of serving personnel in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy (RN) who were given custodial sentences or community penalty by civilian courts in England and Wales.
	
		
			   Imprisonment  Suspended imprisonment  Community sentence  In-year total 
			   RN  RAF  RN  RAF  RN  RAF  RN  RAF 
			 2003 4 n/a 0 n/a 2 n/a 6 n/a 
			 2004 7 n/a 0 n/a 10 n/a 17 n/a 
			 2005 5 n/a 1 n/a 4 n/a 10 n/a 
			 2006 0 2 2 2 2 24 4 28 
			 2007 0 4 1 3 4 7 5 14 
			 2008 (to 12 September 2008 0 6 0 3 3 6 3 15 
			 n/a = Not available.  Note: This information is based on offences captured either through the individual complying with their obligation to inform their chain of command or via notification by Home Office police. 
		
	
	Only the requested sentence type has been extracted for the aforementioned table. Therefore these figures do not include fines, conditional discharge, disqualification from driving etc.
	No records pertaining to the criminal activity of ex-RN or ex-RAF personnel is held.
	The Army does not hold centrally the information requested and could provide information on the number of serving personnel who were given custodial sentences or community penalty by civilian courts in England and Wales only at disproportionate cost. No records pertaining to the criminal activity of ex-Army personnel are held.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Minimum Wage

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Gangmasters Licensing Authority on enforcement of the minimum wage in the agricultural sector.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	DEFRA is responsible for enforcing the Agricultural Wages Order (AWO) in England and Wales. The AWO sets minimum wage rates and certain other minimum terms and conditions of employment which apply to workers in agriculture. Compliance with minimum wage legislation is one of the criteria which a labour provider must meet to be issued with a licence by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). DEFRA Ministers have regular discussions with the GLA, but there have been no specific discussions about the enforcement of the Agricultural Wages Order.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many single farm payment scheme claims from  (a) North Yorkshire,  (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and  (c) England from 2005 have not been paid in full.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 10 September 2008
	There are currently eight cases outstanding from the 2005 Single Payment Scheme who have not been paid in full. These cases awaiting payment are held up on probate/legal grounds. None of the holdings concerned are based in North Yorkshire and Yorkshire and the Humber.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many single farm payment scheme claims for each of the last three years have not been paid in full.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 10 September 2008
	 Current records show that the number of valid single payment scheme claims which have not been paid in full is as follows:
	
		
			  Scheme year  Number of claims 
			 2005 8 
			 2006 23 
			 2007 (1)134 
			 (1 )In addition there are 100 claims which have been paid manually where a further payment may be necessary. 
		
	
	An on-going exercise at the Rural Payments Agency to verify the calculation of the entitlements allocated to some farmers could result in additional payments being made where appropriate.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the number of farmers who have received none of the single farm payment they were due since the start of the scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The Rural Payments Agency's most recent estimate is that four farmers have received none of the single farm payment they were due since the scheme started. These case are held up on probate/legal grounds.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much  (a) fines and  (b) interest payments for late payments of the single farm payment cost in each of the years that the scheme has been running; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The information requested is as follows:
	 (a) Financial corrections relating to reductions for failure to meet payment deadlines for single payment scheme (SPS) 2005 payments are approximately £58.67 million. No late payment penalties have been incurred for SPS 2006 or SPS 2007.
	 (b) The current value of interest payments made to claimants who received their full SPS payment after the closing of the regulatory payment window are approximately £2.5 million for the 2005 SPS, £500,000 for the 2006 SPS and £31,000 for the 2007 SPS.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what occasions computer system failure has resulted in the inability of the Rural Payments Agency to  (a) access historical records and  (b) make payments in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The IT systems used by RPA staff to access historical records and/or make payments have been available for use for 99.73 per cent. of the planned hours of service during the last 12 months. The short periods of system downtime amounted to an average of only one hour per month and none of these outages have affected the RPA payment schedules, nor access to historic records or other critical information.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what systems are in place to create and safely store historical records relating to single farm payments.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The Rural Payments Agency maintains numerous systems and controls to safeguard customer records throughout their lifecycle. These systems and controls conform with the latest Cabinet Office requirements and with European Union requirements for handling CAP data. They are kept under constant review and regularly audited by the European Union and National Audit Office.

Allotments

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the environmental effects which may arise from the maintenance of allotments.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	Although allotments will always be mainly used for growing food, they have other values that are now gaining greater recognition. As well as being places for healthy exercise, allotments are also an increasingly important resource for wildlife. Many of the plants and animals that struggle to survive on intensively managed farmland find a refuge on allotment sites. Natural England published the 'Wildlife on allotments' document in 2007.

Animal Welfare: Prosecutions

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions for offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 have been brought  (a) in Leeds and  (b) in total since the Act came into force, broken down by prosecuting agency.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 September 2008
	The Animal Welfare Act came into force on 6 April 2007 in England and 27 March 2007 in Wales. The first published data will be available in the autumn of 2009.

Animals: Diseases

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many  (a) sheep and  (b) cattle were infected by coccidiosis in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 10 September 2008
	Coccidiosis is not a notifiable disease hence reporting of coccidia diagnoses is voluntary. The levels of endemic diseases, such as coccidiosis, in the cattle and sheep population of Great Britain (GB) are monitored through the Veterinary Laboratories Agency's (VLA) Endemic Disease Surveillance Programme. This is performed by analysis of test results from clinical diagnostic samples submitted by veterinary surgeons to the VLA regional laboratories and to the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) disease surveillance centres for investigation. The figures shown in Table 1 correspond to the number of coccidiosis incidents recorded by the VLA's Veterinary Investigation Diagnosis Analysis (VIDA) database for the years 2003 to 2008. Incidents in this setting are defined as farm holdings reporting a case of coccidiosis, affecting one or more animals, either for the first time or after a four-week period from the last reported incident of coccidiosis diagnosed on that farm. Note therefore that holdings can be recorded as having cases more than once within the same year.
	
		
			  All incidents of coccidiosis in cattle in Great Britain recorded on VIDA. 2003 to August 2008 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 (January to August only) 
			 January 37 33 35 19 30 28 
			 February 21 19 20 30 21 31 
			 March 21 31 20 34 37 23 
			 April 22 38 26 26 28 41 
			 May 60 47 55 70 66 65 
			 June 70 80 47 76 52 68 
			 July 60 57 56 48 72 64 
			 August 47 41 52 59 49 51 
			 September 65 52 46 59 53 — 
			 October 68 46 46 47 65 — 
			 November 53 33 43 59 67 — 
			 December 27 36 28 27 33 — 
			 Total 551 513 474 554 573 371 
		
	
	
		
			  All incidents of coccidiosis in sheep in Great Britain recorded on VIDA. 2003 to August 2008 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 (January to August only) 
			 January 7 7 8 9 6 3 
			 February 27 27 14 19 22 5 
			 March 50 67 27 43 26 20 
			 April 34 99 51 97 33 45 
			 May 62 67 64 127 38 51 
			 June 57 36 41 71 31 45 
			 July 17 18 18 14 27 17 
			 August 10 17 11 7 9 5 
			 September 5 5 8 2 3 — 
			 October 4 1 4 5 3 — 
			 November 3 1 3 3 1 — 
			 December 1 1 1 2 0 — 
			 Total 277 346 250 399 199 191 
			  Note: England and Wales data were last updated on 4 September 2008, Scotland (and therefore GB) data were last updated on 14 August 2008. 
		
	
	These figures show only the incidents diagnosed as a result of veterinarians submitting samples to these Government laboratories and therefore do not provide an unbiased or comprehensive estimate of the occurrence of the condition in GB. Many factors may influence the likelihood of a farmer/his veterinarian submitting a clinical sample for diagnosis: general economic situation within the sheep and cattle industry, awareness of the disease and its perceived importance, other concurrent priorities, the particular clinical presentation of the suspected disease etc.
	All these factors need to be taken into account when interpreting the figures. Changes over time of any of these factors will impact on the observed trends, so caution needs to be exercised when comparing annual figures. Furthermore, and within these limitations, figures in Table 1 only represent incidents where clinical disease was present and could be confirmed with the current testing procedures. The figures therefore are likely to represent a fraction of the total number of animals and farm holdings infected with coccidiosis in GB.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to publish an evaluation of the fieldwork being undertaken as part of the vaccine trials for bovine TB taking place at Aston Down.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	 The badger vaccine study, which is designed to collect data on the safety and efficacy of Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) as an injectable vaccine against bovine TB, is due to be completed by March 2010. The field work finishes in autumn 2009. An evaluation of the work will be published once the results have been analysed and findings have been peer reviewed.

Carbon Emissions

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the percentage of the contribution to global carbon dioxide emissions from  (a) power generation,  (b) deforestation,  (c) aviation,  (d) shipping,  (e) motor vehicles and  (f) all sources in the UK.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gives a best estimate of around 6 billion tonnes for the annual global carbon dioxide emissions caused by land-use change (which is dominated by deforestation).
	Using data from the IEA and the IPCC (including an estimate of the emissions from industrial processes such as cement manufacture), the percentage contributions of the different sectors in 2005 to the global total were as follows:
	
		
			   Percentage contribution to global total 
			  (a) Power generation 32 
			  (b) Land-use change (chiefly deforestation) 17 
			  (c) Aviation 2 
			  (d) Shipping 2 
			  (e) Road vehicles 13 
			  (f) All sources in the UK 2

Carbon Emissions: Rural Areas

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to implement the CERT 40 per cent. carbon dioxide emission reduction obligation among rural priority groups in remote areas.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 10 September 2008
	Rural priority groups in remote areas have the same access to the offers under the carbon emissions reduction target (CERT) as others. With CERT aiming some £1.5 billion energy supplier investment in carbon reduction measures at a priority group of low income and age 70-plus households, we expect to see rural priority group households see significant benefits. CERT also includes measures which deliver specific benefits to rural households. For example, we expect some 90,000 priority group households to benefit from fuel switching, e.g. moving to gas central heating from electric or oil heating. We have also established a 'flexibility' option under CERT, whereby suppliers get a significant uplift in carbon credits for installing more expensive measures, such as solid wall insulation and heat pumps in off gas grid properties. They can utilise this flexibility option for up to 5 per cent. of their 40 per cent. priority group target.

Cattle

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of cows born annually in the UK prior to 1996; what estimate he has made of the number of cows which will have been culled by the Government by the end of 2008; and how many of these he expects will not meet the deadline for compensation.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 September 2008
	Before 1996 detailed data of calves and cattle on UK agriculture holdings were compiled through the MAFF annual agriculture survey, and are available in the form of historical datasets through the Defra statistical website (data for years before 1983 available upon request).
	Data supplied by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) show that there are (as of end of June 2008) 230,757 cattle born before 1 August 1996 still remaining on farm, and it is expected that at least 362,000 cattle will have entered the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme (OCDS) from its inception by its closure on 31 December 2008; the predicted throughput indicates some 85,000 cattle remaining once the OCDS closes.
	All animals culled under this scheme, up to 31 December 2008, providing they meet the eligibility criteria, will meet the deadline for compensation.

Cattle

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of records relating to cows born in the UK before 1996 that have been lost; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 September 2008
	There are 207,461 animals registered onto the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) born before 1996. Of these 20,979 are reported lost or at present not traced for reasons such as alleged theft. In addition to these there are 1,039 animals whose final destination is presently unreported.

Departmental Alcoholic Drinks

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are in place in his Department to monitor expenditure on alcohol for hospitality purposes.

Jonathan R Shaw: Hospitality is intended to cover occasions where there is a need to provide hospitality for others. Hospitality may therefore be provided if it is in the public interest only and necessary for the conduct of departmental business to do so. As a general rule, expenditure on alcohol for hospitality purposes is not allowed. The core-Department's catering services provider does not hold a licence to serve alcohol. Were alcohol to be purchased for hospitality purposes it should be acquired through formal purchase order, or through the Government Procurement Card, both of which methods are subject to formal authorisation procedures.

Departmental Appeals

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many occasions his Department and its predecessor instructed the Treasury Solicitor to seek leave to appeal to the House of Lords from  (a) the Court of Appeal and  (b) the House of Lords itself in each of the last 10 years; and on how many occasions the application was rejected.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not maintain a record of cases in which it instructed the Treasury Solicitor to seek leave to appeal to the House of Lords from  (a) the Court of Appeal, and  (b) the House of Lords itself in each of the last 10 years. The cost of obtaining this information would be disproportionate.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will provide a breakdown by source of the level of carbon dioxide emissions from his Department's  (a) agencies and  (b) arm's length bodies in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 10 September 2008
	 A breakdown of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (collation of the core department and its Executive agencies) level of carbon dioxide emissions has been provided through the annual Sustainable Development in Government report, published annually by the Sustainable Development Commission.
	The Department does not collect this information for its arms length bodies.

Departmental Conferences

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will list the conferences hosted by his Department in each of the last two years; and what the cost was of each conference.

Jonathan R Shaw: This information is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Manpower

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many permanent staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies are classed as (i) staff without posts and (ii) part of a people action team.

Jonathan R Shaw: DEFRA currently has 50 people without jobs within the core Department who are part of a people action team. There are a further 39 staff without jobs in its agencies who are not part of a people action team.

Departmental Marketing

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was of  (a) internet and website design and hosting,  (b) print media design and  (c) broadcast media of each of his Department's public information campaigns since 1997.

Jonathan R Shaw: DEFRA was formed in June 2001 therefore information following has been largely derived from financial year 2001-02 through till 2007-08.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Campaign  Internet  Press  TV  Radio 
			 2002-03 Are You Doing Your Bit? — — — — 
			 2002-03 Personal Food Imports — — — — 
			   
			 2003-04 Personal Food Imports — — — — 
			 2004-05 Passports for Horses — 44,955 — — 
			 2005-06 Tomorrow's Climate Today's Challenge — — — 151,147 
			   
			 2006-07 Climate Change 231,828 — — — 
			 2006-07 One Planet Living 276,696 — — — 
			 2006-07 Personal Food Imports — — — 38,582 
			   
			 2007-08 Climate Challenge 383,743 — — 38,648 
			 2007-08 Climate Change 1,039,930 460,745 1,605,776 — 
			 2007-08 REACH Communications 15,834 41,288 — — 
			 2007-08 Act on C02 January to March 122,717 483,875 — — 
			 2007-08 Eco-labelling — 10,929 — — 
			 2007-08 Sheep and Goats Identification — 2,993 — — 
			 2007-08 Animal Disease Prevention Campaign 19,182 16,649 — — 
		
	
	All figures, except for the internet, exclude VAT, production, miscellaneous costs, COI fees and advertising rebates .
	
		
			  £ 
			   Campaign  TV  Radio 
			 2001-02 — 0 0 
			 2002-03 — 0 0 
			 2003-04 — 0 0 
			 2005-06 Climate Change Branded Statement 0 151,147 
			 2006-07 Illegal Meats 0 38,582 
			 
			 2007-08 Climate Challenge 0 38,648 
			 2007-08 Climate Change—Citizen and Public Engagement 1,605,776 0 
		
	
	Figures exclude VAT, production, and miscellaneous costs, COI fees and advertising rebates.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on entertainment in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The core-Department holds no information centrally on the expenditure category of entertainment.

Departmental Overtime

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many hours of overtime were worked by staff in each pay grade in his Department in each of the last 12 months.

Jonathan R Shaw: The following table shows the total number of hours overtime worked in each of the last 12 months, broken down by pay grade. The data cover staff in core-DEFRA and those agencies covered by core-DEFRA pay arrangements (i.e. Animal Health, Marine and Fisheries Agency, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Government Decontamination Service and Pesticides Safety Directorate (who merged with the Health and Safety Executive on 1 April 2008).
	
		
			   AA  AO  EO  HEO  FS  SEO  VO  G7  G6 
			  2007  
			 September 3,340 6,676 12,019 6,701 185 1,609 6,304 1,430 1,377 
			 October 3,254 6,104 10,502 6,096 167 1,536 6,072 1,315 2,184 
			 November 2,923 5,306 15,175 6,658 35 689 7,339 1,167 1,349 
			 December 1,619 3,656 9,464 4,296 307 1,377 3,935 1,652 809 
			   
			  2008  
			 January 2,063 2,052 2,409 2,115 90 1,262 787 569 1,109 
			 February 1,432 1,937 3,184 2,375 115 739 1,107 596 249 
			 March 919 1,546 2,734 936 169 524 576 221 168 
			 April 655 1,989 2,848 1,758 75 819 799 792 418 
			 May 420 1,220 2,305 1,672 116 550 434 829 131 
			 June 436 1,307 2,072 1,584 38 300 672 386 186 
			 July 599 2,318 4,278 2,591 97 1,256 1,515 797 382 
			 August 594 1,065 2,319 1,439 71 616 719 1,599 222 
			  Grade equivalent: AA: Administration Assistant AO: Administration Officer EO: Executive Officer HEO: Higher Executive Officer FS: Fast Stream SEO: Senior Executive Officer VO: Veterinary Officer G7: Grade 7 G6: Grade 6 
		
	
	The higher levels of hours overtime worked apparent in the period of September 2007 to December 2007 correspond to pressures on the Department in relation to foot and mouth disease and avian influenza. This is especially pronounced in veterinary grades and those grades that would provide administrative and policy support in these areas.

Departmental Pay

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by press officers in his Department and its agencies in each of the last three financial years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The following table sets out how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by press officers in core DEFRA in each of the last three financial years.
	
		
			   £ 
			 2005-06 11,209.38 
			 2006-07 7,435.06 
			 2007-08 2,839.63 
		
	
	Information for DEFRA's agencies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Responsibilities

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which projects his Department has commissioned from  (a) think tanks and  (b) charities in each of the last two years for which figures are available; what the aim of each project was; which think tank or charity was commissioned; and how much was paid.

Jonathan R Shaw: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Domestic Wastes: Waste Management

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the frequency of bin collections; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 17 September 2008
	DEFRA does not have a policy on the frequency of bin collections. It is the local authority's duty to collect household waste and to reduce the amount of household waste being sent to landfill. They are best placed to make decisions on how they fulfil their duties, including the frequency of collections.

Environment Agency: Finance

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how the Environment Agency's planned £17 million savings from the flood risk management budget in 2007-08 break down among spending areas.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The £16.7 million of savings made by the Environment Agency in 2007-08 on flood risk management as reported in the Annual Report and Accounts in 2007-08 were as follows:
	
		
			  Efficiency gained  Saving (£ million) 
			 Manpower and other savings as a result of Implementation of Integrated Flood Risk Management organisational change project 2.4 
			 Procurement and cost avoidance savings through National Capital Programme Management Service 8.2 
			 Improved techniques and technology for asset management programme 2.0 
			 Automisation and centralisation of systems and processes for Flood Warnings Direct project 2.0 
			 Contractual and other savings 2.1 
			 Total 16.7 
		
	
	The savings are efficiency and productivity savings and therefore will not adversely affect delivery.

Environment Protection: Offenders

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fixed penalty notices for environmental offences were issued in each of the last 10 years, broken down by  (a) type of offence and  (b) issuing authority.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 September 2008
	Data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for environmental offences by, or on behalf of, each local authority in England and Wales are available on the DEFRA website from the reporting year 1997-98 onwards.

Flood Control

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many local resilience forums have received information on critical infrastructure at risk or areas at risk of flooding since the summer 2007 floods.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 17 September 2008
	Following the recommendation in Sir Michael Pitt's interim report of December 2007 into last summer's floods—that Category 1 responders should be urgently provided with a detailed assessment of critical infrastructure in their areas—information has been provided to 35 local resilience forums in England and to the London resilience team on behalf of the six local resilience forums in London. Briefing for the remaining two local resilience forums, due to take place in July, was postponed until later this month because of changes in key personnel.
	In addition, since last summer's floods the Environment Agency has met with local resilience forums to discuss the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to flood risk to assist in emergency response planning. This has included providing information on areas susceptible to surface water flooding.

Flood Control

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what timetable has been set for the implementation of a national floods exercise.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 17 September 2008
	 Firm dates for the next scheduled national flood exercise have yet to be fixed.

Food

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will bring forward proposals to increase food production through  (a) agriculture,  (b) horticulture,  (c) allotments and  (d) residential gardens; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	Promoting a strong domestic farming sector is central to Defra's work, which is why one of its departmental strategic objectives is "a thriving farming and food sector with an improving net environmental impact".
	Defra is spending half its research budget on supporting the farming and food sectors. £27.5 million is aimed at resource management in farming and food industries, including energy and water use, and on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
	The Government are working with food producers and processors to help prevent animal and plant disease, and with the farming industry to ensure there are enough workers with the right skills through the Skills for Farming project.
	The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit's recent study entitled "Food Matters: Towards a Strategy for the 21st century" published in July this year, identified a number of areas requiring further examination by the Government. Defra is taking forward the report's recommendation on the need for a sustainable vision to guide future food policy in conjunction with the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency.

Food

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the extent to which the UK was self-sufficient in food production in each year since 1997, broken down by  (a) type of food and  (b) indigenous types of food.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	 : The UK self-sufficiency ratio for all food and indigenous type food is given in the following table.
	
		
			   UK self-sufficiency in: 
			   All food  I ndigenous- type food 
			 1997 68 82 
			 1998 67 82 
			 1999 68 82 
			 2000 67 80 
			 2001 63 75 
			 2002 62 76 
			 2003 63 77 
			 2004 62 75 
			 2005 60 73 
			 2006 59 72 
			 2007(1) 61 74 
			 (1 )Provisional. 
		
	
	Information on production as a percentage of total supply for selected commodities is given in the following table. These estimates are not directly comparable with the headline measures of self-sufficiency since they are volume rather than unprocessed value based, are not adjusted for feed, seed and livestock and do not include processed food.
	
		
			  UK production as a percentage of total new supply for use in the UK 
			   Cereals  Fresh vegetables  Potatoes  Fresh fruit  Beef and veal  Pork  Bacon and ham  Mutton and lamb  Poultry meat  Eggs 
			 1997 113 70 91 10 77 118 51 95 96 95 
			 1998 115 71 88 9 83 122 52 98 93 97 
			 1999 109 72 90 12 80 108 52 101 91 95 
			 2000 113 71 87 10 79 99 46 98 89 91 
			 2001 97 67 81 11 72 79 44 78 91 89 
			 2002 99 64 83 9 71 81 43 85 91 87 
			 2003 113 63 82 8 70 71 43 86 91 84 
			 2004 103 62 81 9 70 73 42 85 88 85 
			 2005 103 60 85 10 74 70 44 90 88 86 
			 2006 102 59 88 11 80 68 45 88 87 83 
			 20007(1) 100 58 79 11 82 69 42 82 90 81 
			 (1) Provisional.

Food: Genetically Modified Organisms

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of publicly-procured food exceeded the 0.9 per cent., genetically-modified labelling threshold in each of the last three years.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 10 September 2008
	 This information is not available and could be collected only at disproportionate cost. In practice, there are no wholly GM foods on sale in the UK, and very few processed food products with GM labelled ingredients.

Greyhounds: Animal Welfare

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what meetings have taken place between representatives of the greyhound industry and Ministers and officials from his Department to discuss proposed regulations on welfare of greyhounds under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	There have been a number of meetings already between officials and representatives of the greyhound industry, animal welfare organisations and local authorities to discuss proposals for regulations to promote the welfare of racing greyhounds, and further discussions are planned in the future.

Inland Waterways

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many vacant moorings British Waterways recorded in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) the first half of 2008.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The information is not available in the form requested. The precise number of moorings (residential and non-residential) depends on the lengths of the canals (which can be split into a higher or lower number of berths) and the lengths of the boats which moor alongside the canal. British Waterways estimate that they have around 4,600 moorings of which approximately 7 per cent. will become available for tender by the end of this year's trail.

Inland Waterways

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what expenditure his Department incurred on the British Waterways Mooring Trial, including set-up costs and the cost of computer systems, between 1 March 2007 and 31 August 2008.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	My Department has not incurred any expenditure on the mooring trial which is an operational matter for British Waterways.

Inland Waterways: Fees and Charges

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what income British Waterways accrued from mooring fees in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006 and  (c) 2007; and what the projected income from this source is for 2008.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The income earned by British Waterways from mooring fees in each year is as follows:
	
		
			   £000 
			 2005 4,378 
			 2006 4,885 
			 2007 5,196 
			 2008(1) 5,666 
			 (1) Full year forecast income

Inland Waterways: Fees and Charges

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many boat owners paid mooring fees to British Waterways in (a) 2005, (b) 2006 and (c) 2007; and how many have paid such fees in 2008 to date.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The number of boat owners who have paid mooring fees to British Waterways (including short term mooring fees) are:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2005 7,490 
			 2006 7,837 
			 2007 7,777 
			 2008(1) 6,457 
			 1 To date

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2008,  Official Report, column 766W, on the Commission for Rural Communities, how much funding each of his Department's  (a) executive agencies and  (b) sponsored bodies will receive for the 2009-10 financial year.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 September 2008
	 : Budgets for 2009-10 for Defra's delivery bodies are shown as follows:
	
		
			  (a) Executive Agencies: 2009-10 budgets 
			  £  million 
			   2009-10 
			   Prog  Cap  Total 
			 Rural Payments Agency (operational costs only) 182.7 19.5 202.2 
			 Marine and Fisheries Agency 20.5 3.0 23.5 
			 Animal Health 115.5 10.7 127.1 
			 Government Decontamination Service 3.0 — 3.0 
		
	
	Defra's other Executive Agencies: the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) recover their full economic costs through charges made to customers for services provided.
	
		
			  (b) Key sponsored bodies: budgets 
			  £ million 
			   2009-10 
			   Prog  Cap  Total 
			 Environment Agency 473.8 357.5 831.3 
			 Natural England 165.9 6.1 172.0 
			 Carbon Trust 58.7 27.0 85.7 
			 British Waterways 33.8 24.6 58.3 
			 National Parks 51.0 — 51.0 
			 Waste and Resources Action Programme 37.0 3.0 40.0 
			 Energy Savings Trust 39.5 1.0 40.5 
			 Royal Botanical Gardens Kew 17.6 10.9 28.5 
			 Committee for Rural Communities 6.4 — 6.4 
			 ENCAMS 5.0 — 5.0 
			 National Forest Co. 3.6 — 3.6 
			 Joint Nature Conservation Committee 1.9 — 1.9 
			 Gangmasters Licensing Authority 1.5 — 1.5

Oil Palm: Biodiversity

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding he has allocated for evaluation of the biodiversity value of areas of rainforest left within oil palm plantations; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 15 September 2008
	We have not allocated funding specifically for an evaluation of the biodiversity value of areas of rainforest within oil palm plantations. However, biodiversity issues have been covered within broader studies such as the 'Review of Work on the Environmental Sustainability of International Biofuels Production and Use', funded by Defra and published in April this year as well as Defra's September 2007 report on Sustainable Commodities (Defra research project EV02019) which examined the environmental and social impacts of eight commodity groups, including palm oil.
	Defra is also contributing towards the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study which will examine, among other things, the costs of biodiversity loss in the main biomes. This study is due to be published in 2010.

Slaughterhouses

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many slaughterhouses available to cull cows born before 1996 there will be by the end of 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 September 2008
	There are currently nine slaughterhouses in the UK licensed and available to handle pre August 1996 cattle: five in England; two in Scotland; one in Wales and in Northern Ireland. In order to manage the seasonal fluctuations in cattle presented under the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme (OCDS), Government and industry colleagues worked together to provide a booking system, the purpose of which is to be able to predict the demand for the scheme and to match slaughter capacity. At present the abattoir capacity is undersubscribed.

South West Water Authority

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what  (a) assets and  (b) funds are available to the residual South West Water Authority;
	(2)  what consideration he has given to winding up the residual South West Water Authority.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 17 September 2008
	There are no assets or funds available to the South West Water Authority even though it continues to exist as a public body.
	There are no current plans to wind up the residual South West Water Authority. It is to be retained until the Government are satisfied that all residual matters relating to it have been resolved.

Warm Front Scheme

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to improve the speed of performance, technical competence and overall efficiency of Warm Front and Warm Front contractors; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 17 September 2008
	DEFRA works very closely with eaga plc regarding the delivery of the scheme to ensure that clients receive an efficient and effective service. In addition, the Department has a contract with independent quality assessors who monitor quality issues and report on a regular basis to the Department.

Warm Front Scheme

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will direct the White Young Green review team and representatives of his Department to meet representatives of J and L National Energy Saver Ltd to discuss the evidence submitted by that company relating to its suspension from the Warm Front 2 scheme and to produce a supplementary report; if he will place in the Library a copy of the White Young Green report on the suspension of J and L National Energy Saver Ltd from the Warm Front 2 scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 17 September 2008
	Owing to the ongoing legal proceedings, I am unable to comment on J and L National Energy Saver Ltd's suspension from the Warm Front Scheme.
	I can confirm that I have no plans to place a copy of the original White Young Green report in the Library, although it is available from DEFRA upon request.

Warm Front Scheme

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the  (a) effectiveness,  (b) value for money and  (c) compliance with open tender requirements of the establishment by Eaga of a co-venture with Ideal Boilers to undertake annual service visits on behalf of Eaga and the Warm Front 2 scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 17 September 2008
	As part of the open, audited and fully competitive tendering process for Warm Front, DEFRA ensured that the management of the scheme, including provision of aftercare services, provided value for money and complied with tender requirements.
	All aspects of management of the Scheme, including provision of aftercare services, is subject to regular audits by DEFRA's independent quality assessors to ensure it is providing an effective service.

Warm Front Scheme

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the  (a) effectiveness and  (b) accordance with the principles of natural justice of the procedures for terminating contracts of Warm Front 2 scheme sub-contractors; what the procedures are; and what notice is required to be given.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The terms of termination are defined in the contract between eaga plc and Warm Front contracted installers, which are agreed prior to their acceptance to work on the scheme.
	These terms are a private agreement between eaga plc and potential Warm Front sub-contractors.

Warm Front Scheme

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what procedures were followed by  (a) his Department,  (b) White Young Green and  (c) Eaga in (i) the suspension of J and L National Energy Saver Ltd from the Warm Front 2 scheme and (ii) the investigation and review of that suspension, with particular reference to consideration of representations from that company; what the reasons were for that suspension; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 17 September 2008
	DEFRA has looked into the dispute between eaga plc and J and L heating, both in terms of the reasons for the action taken and the procedures followed by the scheme manager, eaga plc. This report has been provided to J and L National Energy Saver Ltd and is available from DEFRA upon request.
	DEFRA commissioned a further review, in light of additional information provided by the company. However, it was found that this information did not alter the conclusions of the original report.

Waste Disposal: Fees and Charges

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs further to his Department's press release of 2 June 2008, on recycling in public places, whether waste collection authorities may issue fines to members of the public who place the wrong sort of rubbish into a public  (a) residual waste or  (b) recycling bin.

Joan Ruddock: Certain offences exist on incorrect disposal of rubbish for which a fine can be issued, either in the form of a fixed penalty notice or a fine imposed by the Courts. Examples of offences include incorrect disposal of household, commercial or industrial waste, fly tipping and littering. Deliberate disposal of rubbish in the wrong place could constitute an offence, depending on the circumstances of the case.
	Recycle on the Go, which was launched on 2 June 2008, does not introduce any new offences relating to litter bins nor recycle bins. Instead, it saw the publication of a Voluntary Code of Practice and guidance to make it easier for people to recycle when out and about, for example through the use of consistent signage so that people know what they can recycle, wherever they might be.

TRANSPORT

Departmental Consultants

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much her Department has spent on consultancy fees in each year since the Department was created.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 17 September 2008
	Total expenditure by the Department on consultants in each financial year since it was formed in May 2002 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2002-03 227.5 
			 2003-04 239.5 
			 2004-05 193.3 
			 2005-06 72.1 
			 2006-07 82.9 
			 2007-08 80.3 
		
	
	These figures are calculated in accordance with Office of Government Commerce guidance.

Departmental ICT

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information technology projects initiated by her Department and its predecessors have been cancelled prior to completion in the last five years; and what the cost of each such project was to the public purse.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport does not hold centrally collected records on all IT projects carried out by the central department and its seven executive agencies. Available information shows that the following four IT projects were cancelled during the last five years.
	In general such projects are cancelled if it becomes clear that the costs of completing the project are not justified by the benefits to be obtained. For example, in relation to the DVLA Tracking vehicles through the trade project, IT developments in the vehicle trade presented a lower cost solution. This is now being explored by DVLA, informed by the specification that was developed during the original project.
	Highways Agency: CEO and Correspondence Unit Document Management System. Cost at cancellation: £227,574.
	DFT (central): Electronic Documents and Records Management System. Cost at cancellation: £853,899.
	DVLA: Tracking Vehicles Through the Trade. Cost at cancellation: £7,867,000.
	DVLA: Electronic Licensing for Fleets. Cost at cancellation: £270,000.

Departmental Travel

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 17 July 2008,  Official Report, column 612W, on departmental travel, if she will place in the Library the figures for staff travel costs for her central Department.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 17 September 2008
	 The travel expenditure for the central Department for financial year 2007-08 is £3,509,114.44.

East Coast Railway Line

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she next plans to meet the management of National Express to discuss the punctuality of East Coast Main Line rail services.

Tom Harris: Under the Franchise Agreement a franchise performance meeting must be held once in each reporting period (every four weeks). At the next meeting with National Express, the parties present will review the financial, operational and contractual performance of the franchisee.

East Coast Railway Line

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will meet a delegation of passengers to discuss the provision of rail services on the East Coast Main Line.

Tom Harris: Yes. My hon. Friend should make appropriate arrangements through my private office.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the answers of 12 July 2007,  Official Report, columns 1579-80W, on A69, Greenhead, if she will publish the letter dated 1 December 1982 sent by her Department to the Northumberland county council headed notes for the guidance of engineers employed in connection with trunk road schemes, together with all the said guidance notes.

Tom Harris: holding answer 10 September 2008
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer of 26 November 2007,  Official Report, column 23W, on Roads: Construction. The guidance notes that were placed in the Libraries of the House in November 2007 were incomplete, but they were all that could be found on file within the Highways Agency and the Treasury Solicitor's Department at that time. The cost of searching for the missing guidance notes now would be disproportionate.

Tamworth to London Euston Railway Line

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will take steps to facilitate an increase in the number of trains travelling between Tamworth and London Euston, with particular regard to direct trains without intermediary stops.

Tom Harris: The service planned by London Midland (LM) and Virgin West Coast (VWC) to operate from 14 December 2008 complies with the Department for Transport's specification for services on this route.
	From this date, London Midland will provide an hourly service between Tamworth and London Euston, which will be a significant improvement on the existing sporadic frequency. These trains will not run non-stop to Euston as they will also form an integral part of the London service from Nuneaton, Rugby and Northampton.
	Virgin West Coast will be providing some limited-stop trains between Tamworth and Euston (two up in the morning and four back in the evening) to serve the commuting peaks.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

China: Earthquakes

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Chinese government on ensuring the Tibetan areas affected by the recent earthquake whose epicentre was on the border of the Tibetan Ngaba Autonomous Prefecture are accessible to overseas aid agencies and that all Tibetan victims are receiving the necessary treatment and support.

Shahid Malik: I have been asked to reply.
	The worst affected areas have a population which is 54 per cent. Tibetan. The UK assistance and the Chinese response generally has covered all the victims of the earthquake, including the Tibetan and Qiang communities.
	We have been in close contact with the Chinese authorities since the earthquake. They have been dealing very competently with all the victims. The UK provided funds for the immediate relief effort. On 16 May, three days after the earthquake struck, we provided £1 million to the Chinese Association for NGO co-operation. The money was used to buy food, water, blankets and 2,400 tents. Between 22 and 30 May, four flights arrived in Chengdu from Dubai carrying a further 5,332 tents. The total value of the tents, including transport costs, was £1.2 million. On 18 June, we agreed a contribution of £350,000 to the International Labour Organisation for training to help survivors of the earthquake re-launch or start their own businesses for the first time. The programme aims to re-establish 1000 businesses and start 700 new ones in the next year. The Department for International Development (DFID) total contribution to date is therefore £2.55 million.
	We have also established a facility to provide technical assistance for the reconstruction effort. It will have an initial ceiling of £1 million. The main focus will be on areas where we already have a comparative advantage, such as health, education, water and sanitation, participatory, socially inclusive planning and community based poverty reduction in remote villages.

Members: Correspondence

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to reply to the letters dated 2 July and 3 September from the hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling regarding Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kelly.

David Miliband: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The letters of 2 July 2008 and 2 September 2008 were forwarded to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) on 8 July 2008 and 4 September 2008 respectively. UKBA will be replying to the hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Sir John Stanley).

Ukraine: NATO

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts on the progress of Ukraine's Membership Action Plan to join the Alliance; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 15 September 2008
	At present Ukraine does not have a Membership Action Plan with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), but a process of Intensified Dialogue is under way on Ukraine's membership aspirations and related reforms.
	The UK supports Ukraine's desire for NATO membership. At the Bucharest NATO Summit in April, all allies agreed that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of the Alliance. NATO Foreign Ministers reaffirmed the Bucharest commitment in their statement of 19 August and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary reiterated the UK position in Kiev on 27 August. The UK remains in close contact with allies to discuss the implementation of the Bucharest commitment. The NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in December will provide the first review of the progress Ukraine has made on its path to membership.
	In the meantime, the NATO-Ukraine Commission will continue to help strengthen NATO's relationship with Ukraine and assist in their progress towards membership. The Commission last met on 27 August and allies reiterated once more their support for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

UN Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his most recent assessment is of the UK's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and if he will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: I have been asked to reply
	The UK signed the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1981 and ratified it in 1986. In accordance with Article 18 of the Convention, the UK undertakes to submit reports every four years on measures adopted to implement the Convention to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
	In May 2007, the UK submitted its sixth periodic report to the UN, which summarises the main legislative, judicial and administrative measures undertaken by the Government since 2003. Countries are called to account on their performance on the Convention and the UK is being examined by the United Nations Committee on its five and six Periodic Reports on 10 July 2008.
	The UK's decision to accede to the CEDAW Optional Protocol enables women in the UK, or their representatives, to appeal to the Committee if they believe there has been an infringement of the Convention. There have been two communications in respect of the United Kingdom to date. Both have been inadmissible.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Alcoholic Drinks: Licensing

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will bring forward amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 to  (a) limit the number of licensed premises to which any one person can be appointed as the designated premises supervisor and  (b) ensure that there must always be at least one personal licence holder present at each licensed premises when sales of alcohol take place; and if he will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: We have no plans to amend the Act in this manner. Local licensing authorities are already able to attach conditions to individual premises licences in support of the four main licensing objectives. Such conditions can relate to appropriate levels of supervision at individual premises, and it is entirely correct that such decisions are taken at local level, flexibly responding to local licensing needs.

Arts Council: ICT

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what the cost to date of the Arts Council's Arena IT system has been;
	(2)  what the tender process was for the procurement of the Arts Council's Arena IT system;
	(3)  what consultants were engaged by the Arts Council for the procurement of the Arena IT system;
	(4)  what the support costs for the Arts Council's Arena IT system are expected to be in 2008-09;
	(5)  who owns the intellectual property rights for the Arts Council's Arena IT system.

Andy Burnham: This is an operational matter for Arts Council England. I have asked the chief executive to reply direct to the hon. Member, and copies of the response will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Culture: Olympic Games 2012

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funds his Department and its agencies  (a) have allocated and  (b) plan to allocate to the Cultural Olympiad; and from what source such funds will be drawn.

Andy Burnham: DCMS's contribution to the Cultural Olympiad comes via its non-departmental public bodies according to the arm's length principle.
	DCMS itself contributes £400,000 to support a network of Creative Programmers to take forward plans for the Cultural Olympiad in the eight English regions. This funding has been drawn from DCMS internal budgets. Future funding decisions will be made at a later date.
	The Royal Parks Agency has not allocated any funds to the Cultural Olympiad and future funding is yet to be determined.

Film: Finance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what film production supported by public  (a) funding and  (b) other assistance took place in the South West of England in each of the last five years.

Andy Burnham: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However, South West Screen gave non-funding assistance to 448 productions (including feature films, short films, television and commercials) between 2003 and 2005. This excludes Bristol and Bath.
	In addition, South West Screen have put the following funding into mainly short films in the last five years.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Public funding  in SW  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Lottery funding for film production in SW 88,227 
			 Digital Shorts 68,800 53,050 60,000 59,500 64,500 
			 Digital Shorts plus — — 20,000 20,000 10,000 
			 Other public sector funding in film production 335,921 
		
	
	These figures do not include funding for feature films from the UKFC lottery funds as this information is available only at disproportionate cost.

Lacrosse

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what public funding  (a) his Department and  (b) bodies for which his Department is responsible is providing for teams representing (A) England, (B) Scotland, (C) Wales and (D) Northern Ireland at lacrosse in 2008-09.

Andy Burnham: Funding for sport in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter.
	DCMS does not fund individual sports directly. Exchequer funding for sport in England is distributed by Sport England who have advised that the English Lacrosse Association (ELA) has received over £1.6 million. Of this, £1.26 million is to support the delivery of the lacrosse Whole Sport Plan during 2005 to 2009. The ELA has utilised some of this funding to support its England teams.
	Awards to the ELA for 2008-09 are:
	 Sport England core funding £316,667
	This funding is used by the ELA to support delivery of its Whole Sport Plan for 2005 to 2009. Club Links award: £10,000—this award supports delivery of the Club Links work strand of the PE and School Sport for Young People programme.
	 Step into Sport: £15,000
	This award supports delivery of the Step into Sport work strand of the PE and School Sport for Young People programme.
	 Club and Coach funding
	The ELA is also in receipt of an award for £357,000 over three years 2007 to 2010. Payments to ELA in the current financial year will be subject to the submission of claims and satisfactory delivery of award outcomes. The award supports the creation of a talent development programme in Lacrosse at the grass roots level.

Sport England

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what assessment  (a) his Department and  (b) Sport England has made of the performance of the 12 trailblazer projects that piloted Sport England's £36 million Sport Unlimited programme; and if he will publish those assessments;
	(2)  how many children were offered five hours of quality sport a week in each of the 12 trailblazer projects that piloted Sport England's £36 million Sport Unlimited programme.

Andy Burnham: DCMS has not made a formal assessment of the 12 trailblazer projects.
	However, Sport England has advised that it is currently collating a full report on the delivery of sport unlimited activities by the trailblazers during the summer term 2008. This will be published on the Sport England website in October 2008.
	 Early highlights include:
	Almost 10,000 children took part in activities organised by the 12 Trailblazer County Sport Partnerships in term 1. Of these, 6,747 met the 'retain' target of attending at least 60 per cent. of sessions.
	The average retention rate across all the Trailblazer CSPs was 69 per cent.

Sports: Children

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much it will cost to provide coaching and competition in sport for all school children by 2012.

Andy Burnham: Funding for the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP) will total more than £783 million over the next three years. This will bring Government and lottery investment in young people's PE and sport since 2003 to £2.4 billion by 2011.
	Coaching and competition in sport is central to our ambitions to offer all 5 to 16- year-olds two hours of high quality PE and sport a week at school, and all 5 to 19-year-olds an additional three hours of sport outside the curriculum. Through the PESSYP we will increase the quality and quantity of coaches available to work with young people both inside and beyond school hours. We will also create a world-class system for competitive sport, supported by a new network of 225 competition managers in England.

Swimming

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which local authorities have expressed their intention to take part in his Department's scheme for free swimming for  (a) over 60 and  (b) under 16 year olds.

Andy Burnham: A full list of participating authorities will be available on the DCMS website (www.culture.gov.uk) in due course.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 22 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1052W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, 
	(1)  what the details were of each confirmed report of theft;
	(2)  how many cases of theft are being investigated; and on what date each investigation began.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 17 September 2008
	I will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the  (a) operational control,  (b) administrative control,  (c) technical control,  (d) tactical control and  (e) other command relationships between British armed forces and non-British armed forces operating in (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan broken down by unit to the lowest level for which information is available; and what the nationality of each such unit is in each case.

Des Browne: holding answer 17 September 2008
	In Iraq, the UK has tactical control of a number of US force elements in the MND(SE) area of operations. These include: 21 Military Police Company; a Military Transition Team embedded with 26 Brigade of the Iraqi Army; a Transition Team embedded with an Iraqi National Police Battalion; a Civil Military Operations Cell; an Explosive Ordnance Detachment; and a Biometrics Team.
	A number of other US elements, including the Coalition Air Force Training Team and the 14(th) US Engineer Battalion, operate within MND(SE). The UK works to co-ordinate effort and influence with these organisations but there is no requirement for a formal command relationship.
	There are no formal command relationships between the Iraqi armed forces and UK armed forces although their activities are very closely co-ordinated, primarily through key leader engagement at the senior military level and by the UK's embedded military transition teams.
	Other non-UK units may, on occasion, temporarily deploy into the MND(SE) area of operations for specific missions. The precise command relationship with these units will vary depending on the nature of their operational tasking.
	In Afghanistan the UK has operational control of a Danish battle group and an Estonian company operating in Helmand.
	The Afghan National Army (ANA) currently deploys five units of battalion size or greater in Helmand province. Their operations are closely coordinated with ISAF operations, including through the use of Operational Mentoring, Liaison and Training Teams, although there is no formal command relationship between ISAF and ANA units.
	As in Iraq, other non-UK units may, on occasion, temporarily deploy into Helmand province for specific missions: the precise command relationships with these units will vary dependent on the precise nature of their operational tasking.

Armed Forces: Deployment

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what operations British forces have been deployed in each year since 1997; and what the scale of each operation was according to the terms set out in the defence planning assumptions.

Des Browne: There have been over 100 deployments by UK forces since 1997. These vary in size, for example the current support to the UN Mission in Sudan with only two people up to the deployment of a whole division to Iraq in 2003.
	Defence planners use the terms large, medium and small to distinguish the scale of putative or generic operations. These are the building blocks which guide the size and shape of our armed forces, rather than a blueprint for actual operations. Force packages will ultimately be determined by the requirements of each operation.
	Nonetheless, in very general terms, of our major recent operations, the size of our commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq both roughly align to the planning assumptions for a medium scale operation with our commitment in the Balkans more closely representing a small scale commitment since the withdrawal of the majority of UK troops from Bosnia in March 2007. The deployment of a division to Iraq in 2003 could be categorised a large scale operation.
	The level of concurrent operations sustained by the MOD and the armed forces since 2001 is detailed in Figure 4, Page 44 of the Ministry of Defence's Annual Report and Accounts 2007-2008 Volume I: Annual Performance Report and illustrates our relative commitment to each operation over the last seven years. This can be found at:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/AnnualReports/MODAnnualReports0708/

Armed Forces: Food

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the pay as you dine scheme.

Derek Twigg: h olding answer 10 September 2008
	Pay as You Dine was introduced in response to a strong belief, particularly amongst Junior Ranks, that the previous system, which raised monthly food charges irrespective of how many meals were taken, should be replaced with a more flexible scheme that offered longer opening hours and only charged for meals or other services consumed. Pay as You Dine is still being rolled out across all three Services and where it has been introduced, the single Services are monitoring the delivery of the scheme with the contractor. While feedback from Service personnel has been gathered through the various Continuous Attitude Surveys, implementation across the Services is ongoing and it is too early to make an overall assessment of the effectiveness of the Pay as You Dine scheme.

Armed Forces: Food

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel have registered for the Hungry Soldier scheme.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 15 September 2008
	 Pay as You Dine was introduced in response to a strong belief, particularly amongst Junior Ranks, that the previous system, which raised monthly food charges irrespective of how many meals were taken, should be replaced with a more flexible scheme that offered longer opening hours and only charged for meals or other services consumed.
	There is no "Hungry Soldier" scheme, but an administrative procedure within units that recognises that some individuals, on occasions, are unable to manage their budgets effectively. Our policy for dealing with this is to place such individuals on the "Food Charge" and to provide the standard "core" meals until they are able to resolve their financial difficulties. The cost of these meals is then deducted from the following month's pay.

Armed Forces: Housing

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the target number of  (a) single living accommodation and  (b) service family accommodation in the UK to be upgraded to each standard of condition grade in 2007-08 was; and how many of each were upgraded to each standard of condition category in that year.

Derek Twigg: The Department only has targets to upgrade Service Family Accommodation (SFA) and Single Living Accommodation (SLA) to the highest standard.
	Against a target of a minimum of 600 SFA properties, a total of 637 were upgraded to the top standard in Financial Year 2007-08.
	Against a target of 7,650 in 2007-08, we have delivered some 6,816 SLA bed-spaces to the top standard. However, since 2003-04, the Department has upgraded some 26,707 bed-spaces against a target of some 25,705.

Armed Forces: Housing

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to assist armed services personnel to meet housing costs; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 10 September 2008
	It is a condition of service that Regular Service personnel are provided with accommodation. The charges for this accommodation are set by the independent Armed Forces Pay Review Body, with a discount that reflects the disadvantages of living in such accommodation e.g. lack of choice and lack of security of tenure on leaving the armed forces. These charges are deliberately set lower than those readily available in the private sector.
	The Ministry of Defence (MOD) encourages service personnel to prepare for their return to civilian life during their careers by purchasing their own homes. To help in this area, a Long Service Advance of Pay (LSAP) is available which currently consists of an interest-free loan of up to £8,500.
	In July 2008 MOD published 'The Nation's Commitment: Cross-Government Support to our Armed Forces, their Families and Veterans' (Command Paper Cm 7424). Paragraph 2.13 in particular explains more about the Prime Minister's announcement on 19 March 2008 about plans to launch a new initiative on home ownership for service personnel, which will be a pilot scheme tailored to their particular needs.

Army: Manpower

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) authorised establishment and  (b) number of vacancies of each (i) battalion and (ii) other definition of army unit is; and what the comparative figures were on the same date in each of the calendar years (i) 2005, (ii) 2006 and (iii) 2007.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 15 November 2008
	 The figures requested are shown as follows. The data are shown by cap badge since this information is not collated at battalion level.
	
		
			   Liability  Deficit (-)/Surplus(+) 
			  2008   
			 Staff—Senior Officers 747 83 
			 Royal Armoured Corps 5,674 -109 
			 Royal Artillery 7,424 -324 
			 Royal Engineers 9,567 -202 
			 Royal Signals 8,310 -345 
			 Infantry 23,304 -364 
			 Army Air Corps 2,096 -66 
			 Chaplains 160 -20 
			 Royal Logistic Corps 16,183 -988 
			 Royal Army Medical Corps 3,254 -254 
			 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 9,896 -410 
			 Adjutant General's Corps 6,625 -605 
			 Royal Army Veterinary Corps 205 65 
			 Small Arms School Corps 144 6 
			 Royal Army Dental Corps 495 -110 
			 Intelligence Corps 1,624 -124 
			 Army Physical Training Corps 432 23 
			 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps 1,158 -303 
			 Corps of Army Music 888 -68 
			 General Service Corps 0 10 
			 Long Service List 621 -36 
			 Not Known(1) 0 25 
			 Gurkha 2,993 577 
			
			  2007   
			 Staff (Senior Officers) 747 103 
			 Royal Armoured Corps 5,674 -189 
			 Royal Artillery 7,424 -389 
			 Royal Engineers 9,567 -572 
			 Royal Signals 8,310 -60 
			 Infantry 23,304 -229 
			 Army Air Corps 2,096 -51 
			 Chaplains 160 -15 
			 Royal Logistic Corps 16,183 -703 
			 Royal Army Medical Corps 3,254 -304 
			 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 9,896 -311 
			 Adjutant General's Corps 6,625 -305 
			 Royal Army Veterinary Corps 205 20 
			 Small Arms School Corps 144 1 
			 Royal Army Dental Corps 495 -135 
			 Intelligence Corps 1,624 -129 
			 Army Physical Training Corps 432 8 
			 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps 1,158 -318 
			 Corps of Army Music 888 -33 
			 General Service Corps 0 10 
			 Long Service List 621 -21 
			 Not Known — — 
			 Gurkha 2,993 347 
			
			  2006   
			 Staff (Senior Officers) 725 100 
			 Royal Armoured Corps 5,790 -315 
			 Royal Artillery 7,480 -195 
			 Royal Engineers 9,455 -685 
			 Royal Signals 8,440 25 
			 Infantry 24,620 -845 
			 Army Air Corps 2,010 10 
			 Chaplains 135 5 
			 Royal Logistic Corps 15,705 -75 
			 Royal Army Medical Corps 3,271 -360 
			 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 9,680 50 
			 Adjutant General's Corps 6,245 441 
			 Royal Army Veterinary Corps 190  
			 Small Arms School Corps 145 10 
			 Royal Army Dental Corps 420 -56 
			 Intelligence Corps 1,545 -70 
			 Army Physical Training Corps 420 40 
			 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps 1,075 -230 
			 Corps of Army Music 880 20 
			 General Service Corps — — 
			 Long Service List 485 120 
			 Not Known — — 
			 Gurkha 3,372 -63 
			
			  2005   
			 Staff (Senior Officers) 830 — 
			 Royal Armoured Corps 5,295 390 
			 Royal Artillery 7,580 -85 
			 Royal Engineers 10,020 -1,165 
			 Royal Signals 8,550 200 
			 Infantry 24,420 481 
			 Army Air Corps 2,160 -225 
			 Chaplains 160 -20 
			 Royal Logistic Corps 16,385 -790 
			 Royal Army Medical Corps 3,280 -495 
			 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 9,575 185 
			 Adjutant General's Corps 6,870 170 
			 Royal Army Veterinary Corps 200 -10 
			 Small Arms School Corps 155 — 
			 Royal Army Dental Corps 441 -70 
			 Intelligence Corps 1,835 -410 
			 Army Physical Training Corps 446 -10 
			 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps 1,100 -290 
			 Corps of Army Music 925 40 
			 General Service Corps — — 
			 Long Service List 485 130 
			 Not Known — — 
			 Gurkha 3,372 -62 
			 (1) The explanation for a 'Not Known' category appearing in 2008 is that a very few personnel have not yet been categorised by the Joint Personnel Administration system.

China: Armed Forces

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with EU counterparts on the military training of Chinese nationals within EU member states.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 17 September 2008
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has had no discussions with his EU counterparts on the military training of Chinese nationals within EU member states.

Departmental Furniture

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) chairs,  (b) desks and  (c) other office furnishings have been purchased by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years; and at what cost in each case.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			   Quantity  Cost £ million  Quantity  Cost £ million  Quantity  Cost £ million  Quantity  Cost £ million  Quantity  Cost £ million 
			 Chairs 29,247 2.340 40,602 3.248 36,520 2.922 29,982 2.398 26,667 2.133 
			 Desks 10,900 2.834 21,414 5.568 10,108 2.628 10,940 2.844 9,379 2.439 
			 Other office furniture 78,575 4.715 86,483 5.189 67,733 4.064 59,216 3.553 52,721 3.163 
		
	
	These figures include furniture provided for major barracks and Single Living Accommodation investment programmes, but exclude PFI/PPP projects where the furniture is supplied by the Industrial Partner and forms a part of the overall project costs.

Departmental Sick Leave

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of staff in his Department have had more than two periods of sickness absence of less than five days in each of the last three years.

Derek Twigg: The following table shows how many and what percentage of civilian MOD staff have had more than two periods of sickness absence of less than five days for the 12 months ending 31 December 2005,2006, 2007 and 31 March 2008.
	Information prior to calendar year 2005 is compiled on a previous definition for monitoring sickness absence which is not consistent with figures for calendar year 2005 onwards.
	
		
			  The number and percentage of civilian personnel with more than two periods of sickness absence of less than five days  in each of the last three years. 
			   Non Industrial  (%)  Industrial  (%)  Total  (%) 
			 1 January to 31 December 2005 11,660 18.2 2,310 15.6 13,970 17.7 
			 1 January to 31 December 2006 10,840 17.9 2,330 16.4 13,170 17.6 
			 1 January to 31 December 2007 10,310 18.0 1,940 14.8 12,250 17.4 
			 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 10,050 17.8 1,880 14.7 11,920 17.2 
			  Notes: 1. Data exclude staff in Trading Funds, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and Locally Engaged Civilians for whom sickness absence data are not readily available. 2. Data presented reflect the current Cabinet Office definition, and excludes absence days that occurred on weekends, annual leave and bank holidays. 3. Totals have been rounded to the nearest 10, totals and sub totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts. 
		
	
	MOD is committed to reducing sickness absence. Employees included in the table may only have accumulated three working days absence so the figures may appear artificially high. MOD offers guidance and training to line managers on managing absence. It actively encourages the use of Return to Work Interviews and has trigger points in place for the commencement of formal management action.

EU Battlegroups

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the EU Battlegroup roster continues up to 2015.

Des Browne: holding answer 17 September 2008
	Offers have currently been made to fill six-monthly slots on the EU Battlegroup roster until 2013, although there are a number of gaps from 2010 onwards.

Trident Missiles

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Trident warheads were operationally available at the latest date for which figures are available; and when that number fell below 160.

Des Browne: holding answer 17 September 2008
	The UK has fewer than 160 operationally available Trident warheads. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 November 2007,  Official Report, column 366W. I am withholding further information as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice national security.